BGC Pledges to ‘Keep Up The Momentum’ on Safer Gambling

Although the regulator said the fall was not “statistically significant”, it does suggest that the BGC’s work over the past 12 months on promoting safer gambling is having an impact.

The study also showed that the rate of those gamblers classed as being at ‘moderate risk’ of harm fell from 1.2 per cent to 0.9 per cent between 2019 and 2020.

Meanwhile, the ‘low risk’ rate showed a “significant decrease” from 2.7 per cent to 2.0 per cent over the same period.

According to the Government, the problem gambling rate is 0.5 per cent and has been stable for the past 20 years.

The Gambling Commission study was based on a survey of 4,007 UK adults between March and December last year.

Wes Himes, the BGC’s executive director for standards and innovation, said: “Since being established in 2019, we have worked tirelessly to drive up standards in the regulated betting and gaming industry and promote safer gambling.

“Our initiatives have included encouraging deposit limits, investing more in research, education and treatment, and introducing tough new rules on VIP schemes and game design.

“One problem gambler is one too many, however, and we are determined to keep up the momentum in the months ahead.

“For example, we’re looking at how we extend filtering for online ads, and are working with online platforms on opt outs for betting advertising.

“We look forward to engaging with the Government’s Gambling Review to ensure a safer gambling environment for our millions of customers.”