Insights The Gambling Act Review – White Paper Tracker

We’ve created this tracker as a resource to keep you up to date with all the latest developments on the Government’s Review of the Gambling Act and the resulting White Paper and to share our reaction and insight upon publication.

We’ll be keeping this page updated with a series of summaries and commentary over the coming days and weeks – please bookmark it to make sure you don’t miss our latest posts.

Background

The Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (“DCMS”) announced, in December 2020, a review of British gambling laws and published a Call for Evidence to inform the potential changes to the Gambling Act 2005. To use the words of DCMS at the time, they wanted to make the legislative framework “fit for the digital age”.

The Call for Evidence ran for 16 weeks and closed on 31 March 2021.

The White Paper was published on 27 April 2023.

White Paper Analysis

June 09, 2023

The latest insight will focus on how the White Paper regards advertising, marketing and branding, detailing the current restrictions on bonuses and directing marketing and a new approach to safer gambling messaging.

June 02, 2023

This insight examines the key proposals around what we all call “affordability”, the area of regulation which has attracted the most intense scrutiny and debate in recent years, and which is central to the Government’s stated policy aims.

May 17, 2023

When dividing the White Paper into six chapters, “Online Protections – players and products” is first up and assesses why measures around financial vulnerability and product restrictions are likely to have the greatest impact on both industry stakeholders and consumers.

The insight will focus on the key proposals around product restrictions, namely stake limits, responsible game design, player centric tools and prize draws and competitions.

May 2, 2023

We set out the highlights emanating from the 256-page publication, with the intention that we follow up with a more detailed assessment of some of the specific issues in the coming weeks.