Reformers Begin Serious Push For UK Ad Ban

The shoe finally is finally beginning to drop on UK gambling advertising, as the House of Lords publishes a report calling on the government to ban all forms of industry marketing.

An influential committee from the upper house of the UK parliament has published a lengthy report setting out the rationale for banning all forms of gambling advertising in the UK.

The House of Lords Liaison Committee has said that the most effective way of reducing harm caused by gambling, which it notes is an aim of the current government, is to ban the sector from marketing in its entirety

“We recommend that the Government implement such a ban as soon as practicable,” the committee said.

The House of Lords is the upper house of the UK’s parliament, but is mostly populated by appointees who serve for life.

Its primary role in British politics is to provide a second stage of approval for new legislation and to attempt to influence the government, all of whom are members of the lower, but far more powerful, House of Commons.

The goal of this policy would be to lower overall demand and consumption of gambling, which would inevitably drive down revenues for the industry.

“We are clear that this would shrink, rather than grow, the gambling sector and that this would make a positive difference to millions of people across the country,’ said Lord Foster of Bath, a former Chair of the committee who also runs the pressure group Peers for Gambling Reform.

The Lords argue that by diminishing the gambling industry they will in fact bring more money back into the wider economy.

“There are clear health and economic benefits to reducing participation in gambling, with a recent study by the Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research estimating that a 10% reduction in spending on gambling could lead to an increase in GVA of £1.25 billion and create over 22,000 jobs,” said Lord Foster.

Alternatively

A softer policy is also being pushed by the Lords committee, in the event that the government chooses not to move forward with a total ban.

Currently, marketing regulation is handled by the Advertising Standards Authority, which is a self-regulatory body which oversees the entirety of UK advertising.

It issues warnings and demands that ads be edited or taken down, but has limited enforcement powers, although the Gambling Commission can pick up cases of serious misconduct.

The Lords want the Gambling Commission to completely handle advertising oversight, potentially allowing for tougher punishments for those who breach the rules.

No surprises

The road to this week’s announcements has been lengthy, but there have been clear signposts for several years that UK political pressure around gambling was heading in this direction.

The UK gambling industry had hoped that the publication of the 2023 White Paper on gambling, which pledged to introduce several updates to existing laws and regulations, would signal an end to a tumultuous period of regulation and enforcement for the sector.

Among many other changes, the White Paper promised new stake limits for online slots, which have since been introduced, and introduce a requirement for operators to assess the financial health of their customers, which is shortly to be rolled out after a long pilot.

However it took only moments after the then Minister of Culture stood up to present the report before familiar parliamentary enemies of the industry were already pushing for more.

Responding to the announcement, former Conservative Party leader and senior figure in the All Party Parliamentary Group on Gambling Harm, Iain Duncan Smith, lamented the lack of planned action on gambling advertising.

This feeling among activists that gambling ads need more attention has persisted in the years since.

The white paper was relatively light on advertising restrictions, compared to other areas of gambling policy.

This was seen to be, in part, due to a voluntary agreement by the Premier League to give up gambling shirt-front sponsorships that was agreed in the run up to the report.

The pledge came into effect at the start of the current season after a lengthy transition period.

Time to strike

The loosely associated group of organizations pushing for much tougher rules also feel that they now have an ally in No. 10 Downing Street in the form of Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

One of Burnham’s first actions upon taking over the top job in July was to call betting shops “dodgy” and pledge to remove many of them from the high street.

This comes as the sector is still reeling from tax increases that took effect this April, with an increase to online betting rates due next year.

Operators like William Hill and Entain have already said they will be closing shops and even online giant Bet365 announced in recent weeks it is cutting headcount in the UK and Europe.

Reacting to the Lords report, the Betting and Gaming Council’s CEO, Grainne Hurst, called it "deeply misguided” and warned it “risks weakening, rather than strengthening, consumer protection".