The direction of the government’s gambling review, which includes controversial proposals around affordability checks, has been further cast into doubt with the news that gambling minister Paul Scully will move to a different department in framework of the reform of prime minister Rishi Sunak on 7 February.
That news will be a blow to both the racing and gambling industries, who will be hoping Scully stays in his role as he has shown a willingness to listen to the concerns of both industries. , as well as reform campaigners.
Britain’s racing leaders have warned that intrusive affordability checks on bettors could erase tens of millions of pounds from the sport’s revenue if they are put in place as a result of a review. gamble.
However, last month, Scully told the Betting and Gaming Council’s annual meeting that it was not the government or the Gambling Commission who decided how much people could afford to gamble and instead In addition, ministers advocated “frictionless” testing.
Former culture secretary Michelle Donelan, who was ultimately responsible for the long-delayed gambling review, has been appointed secretary of state for science, innovation and technology.
The Ministry of Culture, Media and Sports has confirmed Scully will be joining her, although there is no word on his successor.
Donelan was replaced at a reduced DCMS by Lucy Frazer, the Conservative MP for South East Cambridgeshire.
Frazer’s appointment would be seen as a positive for British racing. Her constituency includes the July Course at Newmarket and National Stud, and she is considered an advocate of the sport.
BGC chief executive Michael Dugher said: “We warmly welcome the new secretary of state to her position, even though we have more ministers at DCMS than there are candidates for the Grand National.
“We hope that she will listen to the millions of bettors and other key voices in the race who have expressed their deep concerns about the so-called ‘spendability test. paying’ high level, intrusive and low level just leads people to unsafe, unregulated black market online market.
“These pose a major threat to racing as Britain’s premier sport in the world, a sport that makes a huge contribution to our economy and national life. .”
He added: “Millions of people enjoy betting and the vast majority do so in a completely responsible and safe manner. The problem gambling rate is 0.3% and low internationally.
“Future changes to gambling should target problem gamblers and vulnerable people—and leave others to decide for themselves how they spend their money and free time. my hard-earned spare.”
Scully’s gambling and racing brief is likely to go to one of the other ministers at DCMS, sports minister Stuart Andrew or Julia Lopez.
The government’s gambling review was launched in December 2020, but details of the government’s reform proposals continue to be delayed.
Scully said the white paper would be published “in the next few weeks” and it was expected to appear before the end of March.
However, there could be further delays now, especially as it is thought that a white paper on gambling will emerge after the government proposes to change the regulation of football.
That white paper was expected this week, but its publication has been delayed until the end of this month at the earliest.
