Archive | December, 2017

Don’t put your shirt on it

David Clifton is quoted in an article by Scott Longley entitled “Don’t put your shirt on it”, that suggests the lucrative partnerships between English Premier League teams and gambling companies are under threat from the triennial review and the opposition’s calls for an outright ban on shirt sponsorship. David is quoted as saying: “With the current levels […]

Consultation on reform of the administration of the Horserace Betting Levy

DCMS has published a consultation (and accompanying De Minimis assessment) on proposals to reform the administration of the Horserace Betting Levy using a Legislative Reform Order (“LRO”), which would result in the closure of the Horserace Betting Levy Board (“HBLB”) and the transfer of its functions to other bodies. The key elements of the Government’s proposal, designed to […]

House of Lords debates Select Committee report on the Licensing Act 2003

In a House of Lords debate on 20 December 2017, Baroness McIntosh of Pickering, Chair of the House of Lords Select Committee on the Licensing Act 2003, moved the following motion: “That this House takes note of the Report from the Select Committee on the Licensing Act 2003, The Licensing Act 2003: post-legislative scrutiny (Session 2016–17, HL Paper […]

Last chance saloon

In this month’s Licensing Expert article for SBC News (that can be downloaded below), David Clifton says that in all his 35 years advising the UK’s gambling industry he can think of no time when it has been so besieged with adverse criticism from the Government, the Parliamentary Opposition, regulators, the media and the general public […]

GAMSTOP advance registration is now open

In a press release (that can be downloaded below), the RGA has announced that the Registration Form and the GAMSTOP Operator Side Implementation Guidance (GOSIG) are now available to enable the onboarding process for ALL (not just RGA members) British licensed online gambling operators to integrate with GAMSTOP in advance of the scheme going live […]

Cross-party support for deregulation of society lottery financial limits

An important Parliamentary debate (on the future of society lotteries, the Health Lottery and limits on prize values) took place on 12 December, the same day that the Gambling Commission announced forthcoming requirements intended to make it easier for consumers to understand where money raised from society lottery ticket sales goes. The debate (that can be viewed on parliamentlive.tv and the […]

Joint action by the CMA and Gambling Commission continues on unfair practices and promotions

At the Gambling Commission’s “Raising Standards” Conference last month, George Lusty, Project Director at the UK Competition and Markets Authority (‘CMA’), outlined changes that the CMA is expecting from operators to address the CMA’s and the Commission’s concerns around unfair practices, as part of the two bodies’ joint work on the matter. In an article […]

Regulatory returns guidance published

As a result of the Gambling Commission’s Regulatory Data consultation (in November 2016), it has now published guidance on regulatory returns due to be submitted from April 2018. The relevant guidance can be accessed by following the appropriate link below: Regulatory returns guidance for AGCs Regulatory returns guidance for betting Regulatory returns guidance for bingo Regulatory returns […]

LCCP changes for lotteries and ELMs in force from April 2018

The Gambling Commission has announced today new forthcoming requirements intended to make it easier for consumers to understand where money raised from society lottery ticket sales goes. From 4 April 2018, changes to the Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (“LCCP”) will require all lottery promoters to: make it clear to consumers before they […]

Young people gambling report makes headline news

The Gambling Commission’s newly published “Young people and gambling 2017” report featured heavily in last night’s BBC News and today’s newspaper headlines, that include: “25,000 children in Britain are problem gamblers, report finds” – The Guardian “Skin betting: ‘Children as young as 11 introduced to gambling” – BBC News “UK Gambling Commission warns ½ million […]