After years of waiting, the Gambling Act Review white paper was finally released. After careful evaluation, the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) published its plans for the implementation of the changes outlined in the paper.

The document covers more than 60 areas of work for the UKGC alone and will likely take years to complete. However, the commission believes that it will be able to make quick progress in a number of key areas and has already prepared teams to do that.

According to the regulator, some white paper objectives must be delivered through the License Conditions and Codes of Practice – a list of practices that defines what licensed operators have to do. However, the UKGC will first have to consult these changes with its licensees.

Tim Miller, the commission’s executive director for research and policy, said that the regulator hopes to publish the first set of white paper-related LCCP consultations this summer. He said that pre-consultation talks with stakeholders have started in a number of policy areas.

Importantly, these consultations will be sharply focused on how changes are implemented. Whilst not all, many questions of public policy have been settled by the White Paper itself. Where they have, our consultations will not be an opportunity to reopen those debates.

Tim Miller, exec director for research and policy, UKGC

Miller noted that the UKGC wants to introduce carefully-planned and consulted policy changes instead of rushing them and causing unintended consequences for the British public.

Change Will Take Time

The UKGC will remain focused on delivering the reforms proposed by the white paper. Miller pointed out that the document has trusted the UKGC to deal with illegal gambling and facilitate cross-government collaboration with the regulator. While the commission’s regulatory powers will increase, so will its responsibilities.

Miller said that the scope of the white paper is large and that it will remain the dominant policy initiative of the UKGC for the next few years. The regulator will go through various stages of development, implementation, evaluation and review to make sure that gambling regulations are up to date with the modern age.

The UKGC will hear its stakeholders’ input during each of the stages but noted that it is important to do this in a manageable way.

The scale of change, even with increased resources in future, means there will be very little space for the Commission to consider other policy developments not included in the white paper.

Tim Miller, exec director for research and policy, UKGC

Miller noted that the white paper will not signify immediate change. On the contrary, changes will only come into effect after consultations and legislation changes. He said that his team will do its best to implement the recommendations in the white paper in a timely manner but that will not distract the UKGC team from pursuing compliance with its existing requirements.

Miller concluded that the UKGC will continue to vigilantly ensure that its standards are met and will take action to protect customers when needed.

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