Gambling minister Stuart Andrew reflects on the publication of the gambling review white paper and its likely impact on racing.
Whether it’s a sweepstake with friends and family, or putting a couple of pounds on a horse on a betting app, having a flutter on the Grand National is an annual tradition for many people in Britain.
Millions of people get together to tune into the nation’s most cherished horse race every year – and most are able to put a few quid on with no issues at all. The lucky ones even win some cash.
Not only do the vast majority of us enjoy these moments without issue, hundreds of thousands play on a more regular basis – whether that’s putting money on a weekly football accumulator or playing roulette online.
Sadly, though, some people fall victim to addiction and find themselves trying to ‘win’ back their money and chasing ever-increasing losses, only to find themselves deeper and deeper in financial turmoil.
The numbers of those experiencing this type of gambling-related harm is relatively small compared to the number who have a flutter, but the gambling landscape has changed significantly over the past 20 years.
Most people now have access to a casino or bookies open 24/7 in their pocket in the form of a smartphone and all it can take to lose life-changing sums is a few swipes of a screen.
There are simply too many examples of how addiction has ruined lives. One player was allowed to lose £70,000 over a ten-hour period, while recently the Gambling Commission fined William Hill more than £19 million for failures including allowing a customer to spend £23,000 in just 20 minutes.
We need to update our laws to better match the smartphone era, where people can place a bet anywhere, anytime, and protect those who are at risk of this type of addiction and harm.
We will not tell those thousands of people who play without issue how to spend their money, and we have now followed through on that promise we made.
Instead, we are putting in place player protection checks as critical safety nets, which will allow millions of punters who choose to have a bet to continue to do so as they have always done.
Those checks will do exactly what they say: protect those in the grip of an addiction from incurring life-changing losses if data suggests they’re racking up huge gambling debts or otherwise suffering harm.
They are not there to stop people putting a few quid on at the races.
I want to assure Racing Post readers that for the very few players who undergo checks, these will happen in the background against information already publicly available so the process is completely frictionless.
Eight out of ten players will face no checks at all. And only about three per cent of the highest spending accounts will have more detailed checks, similar to those carried out when people buy products through online credit agencies or sign up to some mobile phone contracts.
Cheltenham: the government recognises the popularity and importance of horseracing in BritainCredit: Alan Crowhurst
Many of my fellow MPs have horseracing in their constituencies. Wetherby and Pontefract courses are not far from my own. So I know what horseracing means to people up and down Britain and how concerned some people in the industry were about the prospect of these player protection checks being intrusive and discouraging people from betting. That is why there will be a consultation on how those checks will be implemented.
Horseracing is not only the second biggest spectator sport in Britain, but remains an economic and cultural powerhouse, contributing more than £4 billion to the economy and showing off our thoroughbred racing industry to the world. This is an achievement to be proud of, and the government remains a firm backer of our hugely successful horseracing sector which continues to help grow the UK economy.
To continue this success we have started our review of the Horserace Betting Levy. We want to ensure the racing industry remains best in class and continues to be appropriately funded. We have already engaged with representatives of the betting and racing industries, and their input will be vital.
The impact of the white paper on racing will be minimal. We have taken a balanced approach because we know the gambling industry supports thousands of jobs across the country and that British firms are among the biggest and most successful in the world. We do not want to harm their success, but we must bring our regulations into the smartphone era.
Read more:
Government announces ‘frictionless’ financial risk checks in long-awaited white paper
Gambling white paper: key plans, affordability checks and what it means
Three years, six ministers and one white paper: how we got here
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