DCMS evaluation to consider consumer impact of Gambling Act Review

Published yesterday (5 December), the plan has been developed via a partnership between the DCMS and the Gambling Commission. The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) is also supporting the project.

The Gambling Act Review white paper was published in April 2023 after a series of delays. It includes proposals to update the Gambling Act, which was published in 2005 ahead of the explosion of online gambling.

Certain measures have already been implemented on the back of the review. Last week, the government also announced it will be pushing ahead with plans for a new statutory levy on gambling profits. Also confirmed were new stake limits on online slots, following a pledge from the previous Conservative government in February.

Gambling Act Review: What is and isn’t working?

The evaluation focuses on the impact of specific policy measures implemented under the Gambling Act Review. This includes whether measures are being delivered effectively, achieving intended outcomes and any unintended consequences. It will use data provided from both consumers and the sector itself.

Several research methods are being used to gather opinions and feedback from various relevant sources via consumer and operator surveys, in-depth interviews, focus groups and tracking and monitoring.

The project will also include a ‘lived experience panel’, bringing together people with lived experience of gambling and gambling harm. This will be working in conjunction with the Commission’s existing lived experience advisory panel.

According to the DCMS, the evaluation report will be released in 2026, with work to begin in the coming months.

“The impacts and outcomes of specific proposals will be evaluated individually, as well as in a package to understand the collective impact of policy measures that have been implemented so far and can be evaluated within the lifetime of this evaluation,” the DCMS said.

Cooperation key to evaluation’s success

Bryony Sheldon, director of policy for the Gambling Commission, talked up the importance of collaboration to ensure the evaluation’s success. This will also include an advisory group independently administered by NatCen, which will feature practitioners, researchers, academics and evaluators.

“Evaluation requires involvement and cooperation from a wide variety of stakeholders,” she said. “In taking forward work on the Gambling Act Review, we have engaged extensively and will continue to do so, both informally and through formal consultation, which has included questions about evaluation.

“The experience of consumers, operators and other stakeholder groups will be a key part of the evaluation in the coming months, as we welcome participation in surveys, interviews and other planned research.

“The evaluation will involve choices and some pragmatism in terms of where to prioritise efforts,” Sheldon said.

Gambling participation remains level in Great Britain

In other news, the Commission has made public the latest set of data on gambling activity in Britain. Wave two of the ‘Gambling Survey for Great Britain: Statistics on gambling participation’ was published yesterday (5 December).

Key findings include that overall participation across all gambling activities during the past four weeks was 48%. Findings were largely in line with the rate throughout 2023 and in the first wave of 2024.

Some 20% of respondents only took part in lottery draws. Excluding these from the overall total, gambling participation was 28%.

Online gambling participation rate was 37%, level with last year. This falls to 17% without lottery players, which is marginally behind 18% in 2023. As for in-person gambling, the rate was 29% – on par with last year – or level year-on-year at 18% when excluding the lottery.

Outside of lotteries, the most popular gambling activity was scratchcards, with 12% playing, and sports betting, also at 12%. Some 7% of respondents played online instant win games. Last year, scratchcards were also the most popular non-lottery gambling type with 13% of people playing.

As for the actual players, gambling participation is highest for males aged 45 to 64. However, when removing lottery from the equation, males aged 25 to 34 have the highest gambling participation rate.

The most popular reasons to gamble were for the chance to win big money and because it is “fun”.