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THE GAMBLING COMMISSION HAS COME IN FOR CRITICISM
Gambling Commission ‘an overly expensive, bureaucratic regulator’
No inquiry into the Gambling Act is complete without a look at the regulator that it created. And the CMS Committee had a lot to say on the Birmingham body.
REPORT T
he Culture Media Sport Committee has labelled the Gambling Commis- sion ‘an overly expensive, bureaucratic regulator’ and recommended a full review into the regulator. The report by the Committee, which had been looking into the impact of the 2005 Gam- bling Act, has been particu- larly bruising for the Commission, which has also been told to focus on regu- lating gambling rather than worrying about sports. The report said: “Particu- larly given the absence of a significant UK-regulated online sector or any Regional Casinos, the Gam- bling Commission remains an overly expensive, bureaucratic regulator. We consider that the Commis- sion has not gone far enough, in particular, in its efforts to reduce its operat- ing costs. We recommend that an independent review of Gambling Commission expenditure be carried out as soon as possible after a new system for remote licensing is in place. We con- sider that it is important for such a review to be carried out externally so that the industry has confidence in its conclusions. The review- ing body should have the power to recommend changes to the Commission with a view to reducing its costs and the regulatory and fees burden imposed on the industry taking into account the Commission’s ability to fulfil its licensing objec- tives.”
The Committee said that
the regulator should provide the gambling industry with a clear and easily accessible summary of where the fees it charges are spent as a part of its Annual Report. “This would improve the relation- ship between the Commis- sion and the industry, as well as highlighting areas where value for money is not cur- rently being achieved. This requirement should also help to reduce well inten- tioned mission creep by the Commission into areas such as sports integrity, which is - and should continue to be - the responsibility of the sports’ governing bodies.” As for the fees them-
selves, the Committee of MPs was particularly unim- pressed at the Commission’s stubborn adherence over its funding structure. It said: “We remain unconvinced by arguments from the Gam- bling Commission that changing the licence fee banding system would lead to too much complexity. On the contrary, the current system is too simplistic and in some cases leads to the ridiculous situation where operators face steep fee increases when they open just one new premises. The Commission should intro- duce a new licence fee struc- ture which gives a much clearer reflection of
the
amounts charged per shop. Small independent opera- tors should certainly be paying less than they are now. The Commission should also be looking to charge large operators less than they currently are.”
2 BettingBusinessInteractive • AUGUST 2012 The report also had some
harsh words to say about the Treasury, and not just about its Remote Gaming Duty rate. It said: “We are not convinced by arguments from the Treasury
that
measures to allow the off- setting of Gross Profits Tax against VAT on capital investment for gambling machines cannot currently be implemented. The Treas- ury should carry out further work in this area and iden- tify a means by which such offsetting could be achieved. “We also recom- mend that
the Treasury
make judicious use of indus- try analysis of the likely impacts of its proposed tax- ation measures. As it is in the public interest to max- imise the tax take from the gambling industry, the Treasury should set tax at a level which allows invest- ment in the industry and does not stifle growth.” Along with concerns
over the number of mystery shopper failures in the betting sector, the Commit- tee would also like to see greater support for self- exclusion. “We recognise the significant practical challenges that introduc- ing a national ‘universal’ self-exclusion
system
would involve, including confidentiality and legal issues. However, the gov- ernment should support the development of a system which would allow a customer to self-exclude from all forms of gambling regulated by the Gambling Commission.”
£40m LBO inves RETAIL
illiam Hill revealed that it is making a big investment in its retail estate this year as the company announced a 5 per cent increase in its LBO division for the first half of the year to £417.4m. Coupled with a 30 per cent jump online, the group as a whole achieved a net revenue figure of £627.8m, an 11 per cent improvement on the first half of 2011. Chief executive Ralph Topping revealed that the company was spending around £40m on its LBOs this year, incorporating the expansion of self-service betting terminals (SSBTs) and video walls as well as new shop designs from the third quarter to improve the in-shop environment in all new licences and also those units scheduled for refurbish- ment.
W
“Why?” Topping asked. “We have an increasingly young population in the shops and we want a clean, fresh, high tech envi- ronment for them. Much as we’ve liked
After more than 15 years, William Hill is saying cheerio to Alan Shearer and Sally Gunnell as it introduces new shop designs.
ACTION IMAGES / LEE SMITH
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