UKGC Unveils New Strategy to Fight Gambling-Related Harm

Last Thursday, the United Kingdom’s government through the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) unveiled its brand-new National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms. The three-year program which, as its name suggests, is aimed at reducing the potential harms of gambling and it will involve a “firm regulatory enforcement approach” towards the county’s existing gambling operators. The new strategy will also involve a number of other stakeholders and authorities such as health organizations, regulators, businesses and even charities all of who will participate, in one way or the other, in the education and prevention of gambling-related harm as well as treatment and support.

According to William Moyes, the chairman of the UK Gambling Commission, the new strategy will allow the government and its partners to reduce gambling-related harm much faster for both the people who are directly impacted and their friends, family, and societies.

The announcement of the new strategy follows a detailed report that was released by the gambling commission last year. This report mainly laid out the commission’s ‘framework for action’ on the measurement of gambling-related harm and would, therefore, assist the government as well as responsible gambling companies in determining how best to allocate their resources in the fight to better protect gamers. The new strategy, for the most part, lays major emphasis on more research into the effects of gambling. To achieve this, the UK Gambling Commission says it aims to explore the establishment of a new National Research Center. This will be further complemented by Public Health England’s very first review of the evidence on the public health gambling-related harms in the United Kingdom.

GVC Holdings Calls for Tougher Advertising Rules

GVC Holdings is one of the gaming regulators that is championing the fight against gaming related harm. The company has been very vocal about this with its most recent move being an announcement that revealed that the company is in support of even tighter regulations in as far as the United Kingdom’s creeping ban on gambling advertising is concerned.

GVC Holdings, in a corporate announcement that was posted on their website, called on the government and other relevant authorities in the country to ban all forms of sports betting broadcast advertising. According to the operator’s officials, the existing rules do not go far enough.

“As the UK’s largest gambling company, and owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, we at GVC are doing exactly that. I call on our industry peers to help us bring about an end to broadcast advertising which promotes sports-betting in the UK no matter the time of day,” GVC’s chief executive, Kenny Alexander, said in the release.

The regulations that the operator is calling for are pretty extensive – they are demanding that shirt and perimeter ads to be done away with. In fact, to show just how serious they are about the recommendations, the company has even gone as far as canceling their advert deals for those mediums.

Elaine West

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