Gambling Commission Refutes Racing's Engagement Claims

The Gambling Commission has said it is "surprised and disappointed" by claims that it has failed to engage with racing over affordability checks, while it continues to resist calls to release all the data on which it based its decision to go ahead with the controversial measures. The comments came in a response from the regulator's acting chief executive, Sarah Gardner, to a series of questions put to her by the cross-party Culture, Media and Sport Committee. The committee had written to the commission in the aftermath of the decision to introduce the checks, also known as financial risk assessments, through a phased implementation process. BHA chief executive Brant Dunshea said he was "hugely disappointed" by the commission's decision, voiced concern that all the evidence used to make it had not been published and called on the commission to significantly improve its communication with stakeholders. The committee had said it understood that racing would not be involved in the implementation groups that are set to work on the checks over the summer and asked the commission for its rationale for that decision and how it intended to ensure that the views of the racing sector were taken into account. In her reply, Gardner said the commission had engaged "extensively" with racing over the checks but added that the implementation groups were intended to be for the discussion of detailed issues by those directly involved such as operators and credit reference agencies. A further meeting with racing had been arranged, and Gardner said: "Recognizing the symbiotic relationship between racing and betting, and our shared interests on a range of issues such as integrity and tackling illegal gambling, we remain committed to constructive engagement with racing stakeholders." However, she added: "Having set out the details of our engagement with racing stakeholders on the particular issue of FRAs, I was surprised and disappointed to hear of claims that the commission has failed to engage with this community, and I do not think that such claims are borne out by the facts." There have been numerous calls for the commission to publish all the data from its pilot of affordability checks, which operators have claimed showed that the measures would not be frictionless as had been promised, but would instead lead to customers being asked to provide personal financial documents. Gambling minister Baroness Twycross was pressed on the issue in the House of Lords last week by Lord Herbert of South Downs, to whom she said she would "raise the point about what data can be released with the Gambling Commission", adding: "Where it can, we are encouraging it to do so." The committee asked the commission when it would publish the full dataset, evidence base and methodology that informed its decision, but Gardner reiterated that it would not release the information until the autumn, and even then some would be aggregated and summarized due to commercial sensitivities. She added: "The reason, in this case, why we did not publish the consultation response when we announced a decision to proceed relates to the timetable for implementation. "We think it is important to ensure, in relation to decisions on the way FRAs will be implemented, that our consultation response is informed by discussions with stakeholders and particularly by discussions with the implementation groups that we are currently establishing." Gardner also warned that operators might still be required to ask customers for documents as part of their obligations in other areas such as anti-money laundering. She added: "So it is important to remember FRAs will not and cannot eliminate all document checks but nonetheless, we expect that recreational bettors as a group, particularly high-spending customers who are far more likely to be asked for documents for safer gambling purposes, should see a reduction in document checks."