Consultation response
Autumn 2023 consultation – Proposed changes to LCCP and RTS - Socially responsible incentives: Consultation Response
This response sets out our position in relation to the consultation on socially responsible incentives
Evaluating the impact of relevant changes
The Gambling Commission works to assess progress towards the key commitments set out in our Corporate Strategy. This includes increasing our capacity to evaluate new requirements and policies, with particular focus on the commitments we are responsible for in the Gambling Act Review White Paper (opens in new tab)(white paper) and supporting efforts by government and others to evaluate the impact of the white paper reforms.
The Commission and Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) have jointly commissioned the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) to deliver the evaluation. DCMS published an overview of the evaluation plan in December 2024 (opens in new tab) and we published an accompanying blog post. The approach designed, and currently being delivered by NatCen, addresses challenges identified by stakeholders responding to the Autumn 2023 consultation. This includes challenges around complexity, unintended consequences, and the need for inclusion and robustness. More details on how the evaluation responds to these challenges can be found in our consultation response published in February 2025.
The Socially Responsible Incentives policy is included in the scope of the evaluation. Research will take place over the coming months to understand the outcomes and impacts of the policy change. Research methods will include longitudinal consumer surveys with people who gamble; operator surveys; in depth interviews with operators and consumers; and tracking and monitoring. In addition, the Commission is seeking ways to complement the external evaluation with ongoing data collection to understand implementation and collect further data to understand outcomes and impacts.
One area we are actively exploring – alongside the Commission’s Data Innovation Hub - is quantification of changes to incentives before and after the policy change using data science approaches. This contributes to another commitment in our Corporate Strategy, to use data and analytics to make gambling regulation more effective. Further work on monitoring and evaluation will be completed in the coming months to better evidence the changes happening as a result of the policy. This is likely to include analysis of secondary data (information already held by the Commission) but may also extend to further small-scale qualitative research. There will be a focus on learning from the consultation process as well as understanding how the measures have been implemented by licensees.
Equalities impact assessment
We are committed to giving consideration to potential equalities impacts, having regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. Our position as a result of the initial assessment was set out in the consultation, which was that the Gambling Commission does not currently consider that the proposals set out in this incentives section of the consultation give rise to known negative impacts in the context of the policy objectives.
We invited views, evidence or information which might assist the Commission in considering any equalities impacts in the context of the proposals. We received a small number of responses to help inform our assessment of the equalities impacts of the proposals. The comments applied across all proposals for this topic and are as follows:
Two respondents provided comments on the need to maintain consumer freedom and choice to gamble, but did not point to how this could impact negatively on those who share a protected characteristic.
One respondent provided comments on the impact of gambling and incentives in relation to race, sex, and disability. Evidence was provided on how gambling harms could disproportionately affect BAME adults, female online gamblers, and those experiencing disabilities, including mental health impacts. The respondent commented that the policy proposals would have a positive impact on these groups. Consumers who are not already regularly participating in online gambling are unlikely to be affected by the policy, mitigating against possible over-representation of BAME adults, female online gamblers, including those experiencing disabilities and mental health impacts.
One respondent commented that young adults would be additionally impacted by gambling harms due to them being more vulnerable to receiving and taking up offers. In the government’s white paper, evidence showed that people aged 18 to 24 years old are generally more vulnerable to gambling-related harms than the wider population of young adults (see section 5.4 Protections for young adults) (opens in new tab), which was supported by evidence in our advice to government. The proposals are designed to protect all consumers, therefore young adults would not be adversely affected, but for whom the proposals would have additional benefits in terms of reducing the risk of gambling harm.
Having taken into account the consultation responses, our position remains the same, which is that our assessment is that the proposals do not present a negative impact on the protected characteristics stated within the Equality Act 2010, and they do not contribute towards unlawful discrimination, harassment or victimisation and/or other conduct prohibited by the Act.
Business impact and implementation
We received a number of responses that provided information about implementation and estimates of the direct costs associated with implementing the proposals. These are as follows:
- respondents provided estimates of the costs on operations, such as technical changes to systems, training of staff, and changes to existing and planned promotional campaigns
- some respondents made reference to other legislative and regulatory changes being implemented by government and the Gambling Commission, which need to be considered cumulatively given the technical nature of those changes
- some respondents stated the direct cost to business in terms of estimated impact on customer acquisition and retention. However, the respondents did not provide evidence to show consumers choose them solely because of the level of incentives that provide mixed product or wagering requirements.
We have considered the impacts on business, to inform the Commission’s proposed position and recommendations. We have taken account of guidance to the Commission from the Regulatory Policy Committee about measuring the business impacts of our policy proposals. Overall, we consider any costs are proportionate and justifiable in terms of the benefits to consumers and in the context of the stated policy intent to ensure that incentives are constructed in a socially responsible manner and do not encourage excessive and harmful gambling.
In considering the implementation timeframe for the changes set out in this response document, we have considered the length of time needed to make these specific technical changes, and the sequencing and scheduling of other legislative and regulatory changes being implemented by government and the Commission. In doing so, we have taken into account feedback from industry stakeholders.
With that in mind, we have set an implementation date of 19 December 2025 for the changes set out in this document to come into effect.
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Annex - Socially responsible incentives consultation response
Last updated: 26 March 2025
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