The Gambling Commission has said it has a duty to promote economic growth subject to its objectives of keeping gambling safe, fair and crime-free.
It was responding following renewed calls from Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves this week for regulators to remove barriers to growth.
The government wrote to 17 regulators before Christmas asking them to identify pro-growth proposals which could be made this year. The first of a series of meetings with regulators took place last week.
However, the Gambling Commission was not one of those to receive a letter, nor has it been called in to meet ministers.
That led Arena Racing Company chief executive Martin Cruddace to last week voice “considerable surprise” that the Gambling Commission had not been included, arguing that it could “have a major impact on growth on not just one, but two world-leading industries; horseracing and betting”.
Martin Cruddace: Arc chief voiced surprise that the Gambling Commission was not contacted by the governmentCredit: Mark Cranham
Reeves, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, told reporters that: “Every regulator, no matter what sector, has a part to play by tearing down the regulatory barriers that hold back growth,” and that she thought “the balance has moved too far on regulating risk”.
The Chancellor also said that having more than a hundred regulators in the UK had added to the “overlapping burdens that businesses face”, leading to speculation that the number could be reduced.
In 2017 the Gambling Commission issued a statement of principles in which it said it would “have regard to the desirability of promoting economic growth and its duty to permit gambling in so far as the commission thinks it reasonably consistent with pursuit of the licensing objectives”.
Asked to respond to Reeves’s comments, a commission spokesperson said: “We have a duty to permit gambling subject to reasonable consistency with the licensing objectives of keeping gambling safe, fair and crime-free. That public policy approach is entirely consistent with the growth duty which we have also been subject to since 2017.”
The spokesperson said Great Britain had a “very liberalised” gambling market and pointed to recent data showing gross gambling yield at record levels.
They added: “We continue to engage with the Department for Business and Trade to understand the government’s wider regulatory agenda, and also DCMS on the reforms the government is prioritising within the gambling sector specifically.”
Betting and Gaming Council chief executive Grainne Hurst welcomed the Chancellor’s latest comments “and her determination to double down on the demands made to regulators before Christmas”.
Betting and Gaming Council chief executive Grainne Hurst
Hurst added: “This isn’t about regulation v deregulation, it’s about the right regulations. We have a constructive relationship with the GC, but with more than 100 regulators, often with overlapping responsibilities, we acutely understand the problem the Chancellor is seeking to fix.
“We want to partner with the government’s mission on growth, and as one of this nation’s rare global business success stories, we’re perfectly placed to deliver. But to succeed the regulatory environment has to be proportionate, with a balanced approach to customer protections, and a grown-up approach to risk.”
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