Response to Hampton review on more effective regulation

Press release

Date: 7 April 2009

The Gambling Commission has welcomed a report published today, from a review which supports its plans to be a more effective regulator, particularly in the area of risk assessment. The review took place in October last year at the end of the Commission’s first full year of operation, as part of the Government’s better regulation agenda, following the 2005 Hampton report: Reducing administrative burdens: effective inspection and enforcement.

The report, published by the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR), makes a number of recommendations, which the Commission accepts, for improving its approach and ensuring that it becomes fully compliant with the Hampton principles. Among these are improving the use of intelligence and risk analysis, better focus on outcomes, and being clearer about its responsibilities with regard to the economic vitality of its regulated sector. There was praise for the Commission’s employees in their dealings with individual businesses, as well as recognition for some imaginative ways of communicating with harder-to-reach operators, for example, by text messaging.

Jenny Williams, Chief Executive of the Gambling Commission, said:

“The Commission welcomes this report and accepts its recommendations, which support the approach and arrangements that we are already developing. The report recognises that we were reviewed at a very early stage in our development and, inevitably, the findings reflect that. We are committed to the principles of better regulation and we are pleased to note the report’s overall conclusion that, if current plans are successfully implemented, we should be in a strong position to demonstrate the Hampton characteristics throughout our work.

“We have made considerable progress, recognised by the Review Team, in a number of areas such as:

  • developing extensive procedures for consultation and engagement with businesses
  • our employees showing a strong customer-focussed approach
  • and developing convincing plans to put risk assessment at the heart of our work as a regulator.

“But we need to do more to explain to our licensees and other stakeholders the rationale for our data and other requirements; to develop our capacity to assess the impact of our regulatory actions; and to clarify and strengthen the way in which we work with local licensing authorities. We accept that some of the concern expressed by licensees stemmed from unrealistic expectations and insufficient understanding which we need to address. We have been working on this since the review was completed last October.

“Our response reflects our concern to address issues affecting the achievement of full Hampton compliance early on, so that we can continue to improve and develop our relationships with the industry and other stakeholders while pursuing our statutory objectives.” 

The Commission’s full response to the report is available separately. Hampton implementation review: the Commission's response - April 2009

Notes to editors

The Gambling Commission

  1. The Gambling Commission (the Commission) regulates gambling in the public interest. It does so by keeping crime out of gambling, by ensuring that gambling is conducted fairly and openly, and by protecting children and vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling. The Commission also provides independent advice to government on gambling in Britain.
  2. The Commission is responsible for licensing and regulating all gambling in Great Britain other than the National Lottery and spread betting, which are the responsibility of the National Lottery Commission and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) respectively.
  3. In October 2008, the Commission was the subject of one of a series of independent reviews of regulatory bodies, focussing on the assessment of regulatory performance against the Hampton Principles and the Macrory characteristics of effective inspection and enforcement. These reviews use a standard assessment framework and are designed to identify whether a regulator is on the road to full implementation and the issues each needs to address to become Hampton compliant. The review was carried out by a team drawn from the Better Regulation Executive, the National Audit Office (NAO), the Security Industry Authority, and EEF – the UK manufacturing employers’ organisation. 

Further information

Contact Mark Lepkowski on 0121 230 6700, 07950 572145 or communications@gamblingcommission.gov.uk.