Constituents have contacted me about online gambling and affordability checks.

For some, gambling can be entertaining, but for many it can become a serious problem, as I have spoken about in the House of Commons on a number of occasions. In the new digital landscape, much more work is needed to get the balance right between protecting consumer freedom and protecting people from harm. The Gambling White Paper, published in April 2023, outlines a balanced and proportionate package of measures, including a new regime of frictionless financial risk checks.

I know the Government is clear that the checks should not overregulate the gambling sector, should not unduly disrupt those who gamble without suffering harm, and should not cause unnecessary damage to sectors which rely on betting, in particular horse racing. I understand these will be implemented to protect those at the greatest risk of gambling harm and to stop potentially devastating and life-changing financial losses. These checks will be based on data sharing, and I have been reassured that the Government will not roll them out until it is certain they are frictionless.

Several roundtables have been held between the Government and representatives of industry, horse racing, and the Gambling Commission to discuss how to work together to ensure that these checks will be frictionless. Ministers have also stressed that the status quo, a host of industry-run checks, are often inconsistent, ad hoc and can be unnecessarily onerous, with customers having to manually provide reams of personal data to navigate a maze of different tick-boxes. As such, the Government has urged the Gambling Commission and industry to work together to mitigate the impact of these checks while a new, frictionless system is developed.

The Government and the Gambling Commission have also been working closely with the Information Commissioner’s Office, credit reference agencies, and UK Finance to ensure new frictionless checks can be implemented in an effective but proportionate way. I am aware that the Government is examining the role of pilots or phased implementation to ensure the checks are effective and work as intended.

Fiona Bruce MP

31st January 2024