BETTER CHANGE
prevalence of gambling harm and a new survey being implemented by the UK Gambling Commission risks being mis-interpreted despite the commission’s warnings. For suppliers in particular, the 3rd sector that provides treatment services this period has been equally challenging. Red lines have been drawn up in advance of the levy dictating who can and can’t work together, there have been unfortunate instances of mudslinging amongst organisations positioning themselves to be in receipt of levy funding. Many of these organisations would do well to remember their cause and why they levy yet to be decided in terms of its size and who commissions it nobody in my view has the right to discredit or exclude anyone from the collective effort to reduce gambling related harm.
whilst the introduction of a gambling ombudsman may well be conveniently forgotten, the proposed levy for Research, Prevention and Treatment of gambling harm will most certainly not be as those vying for a slice of the pie will continue to campaign for their cause. The second reason is that if it is indeed a Labour government that comes to power, they will be keen to see the act through given it was their act in 2005 that
people have felt needed bringing into the digital age. They would not want to give the opposition ammunition so early in their term. That brings us on to the most likely but also potentially damaging option, delay. Whatever happens in the election this gambling act review has seen at least four prime ministers and several gambling ministers, the direction of travel has apparently swung from being highly restrictive on the industry to being business friendly and back again before settling somewhere in the middle when the white paper was released. This has had a huge impact on our industry, vast amounts of money have been spent on trying to get ahead of the game with affordability and the impact of restrictions on stakes, various solutions and models have been tested with equally large sums invested in public affairs consultants to try and gauge which way the wind is blowing. The gathering of data for the calls for evidence as well as the consultations which followed the release of the white paper have also taken their toll with a great deal of resource directed towards them, always with the risk that the wind will change direction and the work will be pointless.
Continued uncertainty would only add to this turbulence going forward and it also leaves the door open for the manipulation of data to permeate further into the debate. Statistics around gambling related suicide have been
20 JULY 2024
With that in mind and regardless of any further delay or change in direction of gambling regulation in the UK, you can rest assured that at Better Change our mission of reducing gambling harm through promoting Positive Play is as focussed as ever. Stealing a few famous election slogans from the past this would be the Better Change manifesto for Positive Play.
Safer Gambling for the many not the few – Our focus on Positive Play engages with the masses to empower them to make health and informed decisions about their gambling. Education Education Education – There is no magic money tree – I hope we can count on your vote!
Rob Mabbett
Rob joined Better Change from the charity Gordon Moody where he spent 5 years running their international gambling helpline “Gambling available in their residential treatment centres to meet demand. With over 12 years industry experience, including being a previous winner of the Racing Post and SiS Betting Shop Manager of the Year award, Rob brings a unique insight into the
prevention and treatment of gambling harm and is keen to focus his efforts further upstream as we aim to prevent against gambling harm at Better
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Change through Positive Play.
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