UK Legislators Launch New Strategy on Responsible Gambling

The strategy points to 12 sectors where action should be taken

The gambling jurisdiction in the UK has recently launched a new strategy on minimizing problem gambling and rising awareness of responsible gambling on a nationwide level within the next three years. Titled the National Responsible Gambling Strategy, the document deals with the subject of issues resulting from gambling and proposes several methods on how these problems can be tackled by gaming and betting operators, trade bodies, industry regulators and other related parties.

The strategy was made by the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board (RGSB) a year after the body consulted with the public on the matter. The RGSB is a third party board that provides the UK Gambling Commission and the government with advice on responsible gambling and emphasizes its importance in the country. The body has been working with successive governments since the Gambling Act 2015 became law.

Valid for the Next Three Years

The National Responsible Gambling Strategy proposed by the RGSB covers the next three years to 2019. Its main objective is to encourage responsible gambling, reduce problems resulting from gambling activities and protect the minors and venerable people from the negative effects of gambling in the UK.

The strategy refers to all forms of gambling, both on the Internet and offline, including all gaming and betting activities as well as National Lottery. It also contains information about gambling content and environment, marketing campaigns and a wide context in which gambling activities occur.

The document emphasizes twelve sectors where action can be taken to reduce gambling problems. Some of the actions are perceiving and measuring harm from gambling, understanding how such activities work and improving the methods what would better identify harmful play.

Call for Action

The chairman at the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board, Christopher Kelly, commented on the new strategy saying that the document is a ‘call for action’ for all UK parties involved in gambling to work together towards reducing issues related to gambling. He also pointed out that during the past few years, progress has been made towards dealing with problem gambling and that the new strategy is aimed at building on these steps.

Kelly also explained that the strategy presents a vision of the desirable outcome on how regulated gambling would look like, but he pointed out that the vision is also a challenge and would need commitments, resources and expertise from the industry people an operators as well as other involved bodies.