Commission Highlights Priorities in 2021-24 Corporate Strategy
The Gambling Commission in Great Britain has released its latest corporate strategy, covering the period 2021-2024. Key priorities have been highlighted in the document, along with the Commission’s 2021-22 business plan.
The Gambling Commission’s Five Key Priorities
The Gambling Commission has moved to say that its new strategy is set to be delivered via five specific priority areas.
The priorities are; the protection of vulnerable people and children from gambling-related harm, a fairer market for customers who should also be better-informed, eradicated crime elements from gambling, and improve charitable donations from the National Lottery structure and improving its gambling regulations.
This three-year strategy does come with many similarities to the last one released covering 2018-2021, the key priorities which were to protect the interests of customers, prevent harm to the betting public, to raise the standards within the gambling market, optimise charitable donations from lottery funds and to improve the way the Commission itself regulates the industry.
This time around, an increase in the focus on reducing criminal activity within the betting industry and protecting children and vulnerable people are the main differences. As well as this, changes to the new business plan have been made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Business Plan
The new business plan, which covers the reporting period from April 2021 to March 2022, shows the Commission has set out more key milestones it hopes to reach.
The regulator says that it hopes to deliver a higher quality service, effective and healthy competition for the latest National Lottery license, which was a bone of contention for many bidders, all while maintaining the current performance level achieved by the current license holder Camelot.
The Commission also states that it will ensure operator compliance and enhanced player protection measures over the next twelve months while it continues to focus on the near future concerning the government’s own review of the Gambling Act (2005).
COVID-19 and Where the Money Comes From
Regarding the Gambling Commission’s response to the coronavirus pandemic’s impact, they have said that the new business plan puts forward instructions that were given to those in the industry.
These include implementing better affordability checks on customers, banning reverse withdrawals, and restricting bonus offers. These, the regulator says, have been justified by specific data surrounding the effects of COVID-19, which has been gathered since requests were made to industry license-holders.
Regarding the income forecast released by the Commission, over the next twelve months, it is expected that 34% of all turnover will come from the betting sector, another 26% is expected from casinos, 12% from software licensing, 8% from machines – lotteries and arcades, and another 4% from the bingo sector.
Costs were covered in the document, as well as income. Staff costs are set to make up for some 73% of all expenditure during the next year, with information technology, office, and admin research, professional fees, recruitment and training, and a few anomalies making up the remainder.
It is always interesting to hear what the Gambling Commission is expected to do and what is expected of it from others. However, those others aren’t always the people who should be represented.
This year, the Commission is under pressure from the government to add very restrictive and intrusive affordability checks, which are not welcome by many in the betting sector, the very sector that is expected to bring in the most money.
