The Gambling Commission has today published its business plan outlining its focus and priorities for 2018-2019. This represents the first of three plans to be published over the lifespan of the Commission’s three year strategy 2018-2021 entitled “Making gambling fairer and safer”, upon which we reported in November last year.

The plan (that can be downloaded below) sets out how over the next year the regulator proposes to:

• protect the interests of consumers,
• prevent harm to consumers and the public,
• raise standards in the gambling market,
• optimise returns to good causes from lotteries and
• improve the way it regulates.

As part of the plan the Commission states that it will be pushing industry to designing-in protections and control measures right from the start of product development and to accelerate the progress that operators are already making on consumer interventions. It also sets a commitment to better understanding the public health impact of problematic gambling.

Bill Moyes, Chair of the Gambling Commission, is quoted as saying: “Our ambitious plans for the next 12 months and beyond are designed to enable us to continue to respond to emerging risks and issues in a way that balances consumer choice and enjoyment with the risks associated with gambling, and the impact on wider society. Our strategy and plans will deliver real change for consumers, the gambling industry and for us as the regulator. Our aim is to make gambling fairer and safer and to raise standards across the industry.”