Gambling-related harm APPG sets out 2020 vision

The UK’s Gambling Related Harm All Party Parliamentary Group (GRH APPG) has set out its work programme for 2020, seeking to tackle topics such as scratch card age limits, gambling advertising and the prevalence of gambling in sport. The APPG will also release a final report in the coming months, having called for sweeping changes to the industry, such as a £2 online slot stake limit and an overhaul of the Gambling Commission in an interim document released in November 2019. The group will call upon both the Gambling Commission and Gambling Minister Helen Whatley to appear and contribute to this report. With the governing Conservative Party promising before the 2019 election to review the 2005 Gambling Act if elected, the APPG said it will also be “undertaking evidence sessions” to provide recommendations to the government towards this act. In addition, the APPG said it “welcomed” the British Gambling Commission’s decision to ban the use of credit cards in gambling, which was part of its recommendations for for the industry in November 2019, prompting criticism from GVC chief executive Kenny Alexander among others. The group said it would now campaign for its remaining recommendations, including a £2 stake limit on online slots, to come into effect. The group also re-elected its members for 2020. Labour MP Carolyn Harris remains chair of the group, but five new members have been appointed. Lord Don Foster of Bath becomes the lone peer in the group, following Lord Peter Chadlington’s departure, while Labour’s Mark Hendrick and Stephen Timms, as well as Conservative Mike Penning and the Democratic Unionist Party’s Sammy Wilson, will join the group.