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Board minutes 18 March 2021

Meeting details

Venue:

Remote meeting

Time:

10.00 – 14.00

Attendees:

  • Louise Baxter (LB)
  • Shane Carmichael (SC)
  • Cath Cooney (CC)
  • David Forrest (DF)
  • Anna van der Gaag (AVDG) (Chair)
  • Ian Gilmore (IG)
  • Hermine Graham (HG)
  • Rachel Lampard (RL)
  • Jane West (JW)

Minutes and actions

Apologies and declarations of interest

AVDG welcomed Board Members to the meeting and asked for notifications of any conflicts of interest.

DF advised that the Patterns of Play research was funded by GambleAware.

Introductions, update from Board Members (including update on Patterns of Play research) & horizon scanning

The group noted the departure of Neil McArthur from the Gambling Commission. AVDG has drafted a letter of thanks to Neil from ABSG.

DF provided a summary of the Patterns of Play research. The work involved 7 operators providing 20,000 player accounts each, covering one year from mid-2018. The researchers randomly selected accounts, with overweighting of more frequent customers to build a more reliable sample.

The group noted key findings in relation to:

  • gaming is two times as profitable to operators when compared to betting. The most profitable player accounts are those used for both gaming and betting
  • 78% of player accounts are male, 94% of all bet spending was by men. Across all gaming activities, female players were more engaged than male customers (played more often and for longer in each session)
  • 10% of customers generate 85% of operator revenue.

The group discussed the findings, noting the need for further interrogation of the data. The study suggests that a higher proportion of online casino and slots players have higher losses and a higher proportion come from deprived neighbourhoods.

Minutes and matters arising from November 2020

The minutes of the November 2020 meeting were agreed.

National Strategy to reduce Gambling Harms – Year 2 Progress Report

The group discussed the draft progress report and revisions to the text.

Gambling Review – Marketing and Advertising

The group considered a paper setting out five key questions set out in the Gambling Review on marketing and advertising. The group noted that ABSG would be developing their advice on several strands of the Gambling Act review over the coming months, and that a record of the advice from ABSG would be published.

Any other Business

The group noted the ongoing recruitment process for new members, as three members will be leaving the group at the end of their terms in May 2021.

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