Consultation response
Changes to information requirements in the LCCP, regulatory returns, official statistics, and related matters
Parts I and II of the consultation response that sets out our position in relation to the information the Gambling Commission requires licensees to provide us.
Contents
- Executive Summary
- Introduction
- Part 1: Summary of responses - Changes to information requirements for licensees: Consultation Response
- Proposal 1: Changes to licence condition 13.1.1 (Pool betting)
- Proposal 2: Changes to licence condition 13.1.2 (Pool betting – football pools)
- Proposal 3: Changes to licence condition 15.1.1 (reporting suspicion of offences)
- Proposal 4: Changes to licence condition 15.1.2 (reporting suspicion of offences)
- Proposal 5: Additional licence condition 15.1.3 (reporting of systematic or organised money lending)
- Proposal 6: Changes to licence condition 15.2.1 (reporting key events – operator status)
- Proposal 7: Changes to licence condition 15.2.1 (reporting key events – relevant persons and positions)
- Proposal 8: Changes to licence condition 15.2.1 (reporting key events – financial events)
- Proposal 9: Changes to licence condition 15.2.1 (reporting key events - legal or regulatory proceedings or reports)
- Proposal 10: Changes to licence condition 15.2.1 (reporting key events – gambling facilities)
- Proposal 11: Changes to licence condition 15.2.2 (other reportable events)
- Proposal 12: Additional licence condition 15.2.3 (Other reportable events)
- Proposal 13: Changes to licence condition 15.3.1 (general and regulatory returns)
- Proposal 14: Changes to code 3.2.1, 3.2.3, 3.2.5 and 3.2.7 (access to gambling by children and young persons)
- Proposal 15: Changes to social responsibility code provision 6.1.1 (complaints and disputes)
- Proposal 16: Changes to ordinary code provision 4.2.8 (betting integrity)
- Proposal 17: Changes to ordinary code provision 8.1.1 (information requirements – ordinary code)
- Proposal 18: Changes to personal licence conditions
- Part 2: Summary of responses - Changes to information requirements for licensees: Consultation Response
- Proposal 1: Reduce the amount of data we collect
- Proposal 2: Remove the requirement for licensees to report premise acquisitions and disposals
- Proposal 3: Remove the requirement for non-remote casino licenses to report data on a casino-by-casino basis
- Proposal 4: Remove the requirement for gambling software licence holders to report individual gambling software titles
- Proposal 5: Enhance the operational information section of regulatory returns with more consumer and safer gambling questions
- Proposal 6: Link the requirement for licensees to submit quarterly or annual returns to the aggregate maximum GGY permitted by all their licences
- Proposal 7: Improve our digital service for regulatory returns collection (eServices)
- Proposal 8: Proposal to discontinue collecting monthly non-remote casino drop and win data
- Proposal 9: Industry Statistics - review of user requirements
- Annex - Summary of changes to licence conditions and codes of practice
Introduction
The Gambling Commission
We license and regulate commercial gambling within Great Britain, including the National Lottery, with the exception of spread betting which is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Our functions include:
- licensing operators and individuals
- monitoring compliance with licence conditions and the law
- investigation and enforcement, both in relation to licensees and illegal (unlicensed) gambling
- providing advice to central and local government on the incidence, manner, effects, and regulation of gambling.
We have a statutory duty to aim to permit gambling if it is reasonably consistent with the statutory licensing objectives.
Consultation proposals and background
In a consultation (opens in new tab) conducted between 26 February and 20 May 2020, we set out proposals to change some parts of the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) relating to the information requirements we require from licensees.
The consultation was split into two parts. Part I detailed changes to information reporting requirements within the LCCP, and Part II focuses on other changes, to regulatory returns and some of our official statistics.
Our consultation proposals wanted to make data requirements more efficient for licensees, and for us. Specifically, the proposals sought to:
- improve data quality and the efficiency of regulation
- reflect our continued focus on consumers and social responsibility
- ensure requirements are reconciled against our current and future data needs
- streamline our existing requirements and, where possible
- reduce regulatory burden.
In Part I, we proposed to revise some of the information reporting requirements contained within the operating licence conditions, code of practice provisions and personal licence conditions of the LCCP. These relate to reporting suspicious activity, events that have a significant impact on the nature or structure of a licensee’s business (key events), other reportable events, social responsibility reporting and other matters. The revisions are primarily deletions or rewording of requirements, but we also proposed to introduce several additional requirements.
In Part II, we proposed to remove data points from regulatory returns that we no longer require. We also intended to introduce new data points that place a greater focus on our commitment towards consumers and the prevention of gambling-related harms, and to implement several changes focused on improving data quality (for example, harmonised reporting periods). In addition, we proposed improvements to our official statistics publications.
Our aim was to ensure the information requirements placed on licence holders are proportionate and effective to inform our regulation of the industry. For this reason, we propose to stop collecting monthly casino drop and win data from non-remote casino licensees; and to stop producing our monthly 'Casino Drop & Win' publication. This data is provided to us on a voluntary basis and, while showing casino drop and win data monthly, duplicates data we collect via regulatory returns on a quarterly basis.
We received 70 written responses to the consultation from the following categories of respondents:
- 50 from licence holders
- 7 from trade associations
- 3 from charitable, non-profit or academic organisations
- 6 from members of the public
- 4 from others.
Some responses included comments and proposals around measures either outside of the scope of this consultation, or that are outside the remit of the Gambling Commission to implement. We provide limited commentary on these aspects as they do not form part of the proposals being consulted on.
A summary of the responses we received to the consultation questions, along with our position in view of those responses, is provided in the following sections.
Next steps
The proposed changes will affect all licensees, both those with operating licences and, to a lesser extent, personal licence holders. The changes to licence conditions and codes and practice summarised in Part I will take effect on 31 October 2020. Other changes, for example to our eServices system, to regulatory returns, or our official statistics, will take place at the times indicated in the position statements for each specific change.
We will be updating the following guidance documents to reflect changes detailed in this response:
- Complaints and disputes: procedural, information provision and reporting requirements
- Notification of information security breaches.
We require further time to review the responses to Part II, Question 2.5 (proposals for the new and modified regulatory returns questions) and are provisionally planning to hold a mini-consultation on this topic in October 2020.
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Part 1: Summary of responses - Changes to information requirements for licensees: Consultation Response
Last updated: 16 March 2023
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