The\u00a0gambling regulator has challenged the biggest gambling firms in Britain to raise – and speed up – their game in keeping customers safe from gambling-related harm and creating a market that the public can\u00a0trust.<\/p>\n
The Gambling Commission has warned that operators who fail to\u00a0protect the\u00a0public\u00a0risk their long term future in the industry.<\/p>\n
Earlier today\u00a0gambling industry leaders\u00a0gathered in Birmingham for the Gambling Commission\u2019s annual\u00a0Raising Standards\u00a0conference.\u00a0The event is part of the Commission\u2019s strategy to press its licensees to make gambling\u00a0a fairer and safer\u00a0experience for players.<\/p>\n
The event \u2013 held in the home city of the gambling regulator\u2019s headquarters – brings together\u00a0the most senior representatives from\u00a0gambling businesses regulated by the Commission, including the National Lottery operator Camelot, and groups with shared interests in making gambling fairer and safer. This includes\u00a0consumer groups, other regulators\u00a0and the\u00a0Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the conference, Sarah Harrison, Gambling Commission Chief Executive, reflected\u00a0on the 12 months that have passed since the last conference, noting that while progress has\u00a0been made, the industry hasn\u2019t gone far enough to make gambling fairer and safer for\u00a0consumers.<\/p>\n
Sarah noted that \u201cthere has been some progress across the market that should rightly be acknowledged.\u201d She later added: \u201cThe bar has been set too low by operators in relation to treating customers fairly. The customer experience has not been what it should be, and change is now coming. Fairness is key, transparency is essential, and unreasonable behaviour will not be accepted, by us, by our partner organisations and certainly not by the consumer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leaving delegates in no doubt about the Commission\u2019s expectations, Sarah concluded: \u201cI want to restate our commitment to make the UK the best place in the world to enjoy gambling. To make sure that consumers are safe and that operators are fair and responsible. To have higher standards than ever before, that increase year on year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile our roles differ it is our shared interest in the outcomes that unites us \u2013 and please, I want you to take that message away with you today. We want to work with you to go much further and faster to reduce harm. But we are at a tipping point, and those that do not share this commitment, those who do not deliver for the consumer, will find themselves in an uncomfortable position, with their future in this industry increasingly in peril.\u201d<\/p>\n