Campaigner says watchdog lets gambling groups act ‘with impunity'
The daughter of a gambling addict who lost thousands of pounds while battling cancer says the regulator is letting betting companies 'behave with impunity'.
The number of inspections carried out by the Gambling Commission has fallen by 98 per cent in ten years. Last year it carried out 19 compliance assessments compared with 1,149 in 2015-16, according to data obtained under freedom of information laws.
The regulator said it was using 'a more targeted model of assessing licensees' and making 'greater use of technology'. It also claimed too many councils were failing to use licence fees from gambling premises to fund inspections, as required by the rules.
Most assessments last year were as a result of 'improvement notices' handed to gambling companies when serious failings had already been identified. This contrasts with the situation ten years ago when hundreds of full and targeted assessments were carried out.
Will Prochaska, a campaigner for gambling reform, claimed he had observed rule-breaking on gambling premises that could be picked up if regulators made in-person visits. 'I've visited multiple adult gaming centres in the past year and the rules are consistently being bent or broken,' he said. 'If the Gambling Commission bothered to check, they would find the same things.'
Among alleged breaches he claims to have observed were bingo premises that offer 'just addictive machine gambling' and gaming stores with 'stacks of unplayable iPads left at the back of shops to get round machine ratio rules' designed to protect customers.
Jackie Olden, whose late mother became addicted to slot machines and lost thousands while undergoing cancer treatment, said: 'It takes a lifetime for an inspection to happen. Meanwhile, the operators can behave with impunity.'
The Gambling Commission said: 'Since 2014-15 we have reviewed and improved the way we conduct compliance assessments. We now make greater use of technology and have adapted to new practices and a significant shift in the sector towards online gambling.'
A spokesperson for the Betting and Gaming Council, the standards body for the regulated UK industry, said more than 30 per cent of betting shops had closed since 2019 as a result of 'regulatory, tax and economic pressures'.
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