Consultation response
Frequency of regulatory returns: Consultation Response
The Gambling Commission's consultation response to amend licence condition 15.3.1 to require all licence holders to submit regulatory returns quarterly.
Executive summary
Regulatory return submissions from gambling licensees are a vital source of information for us, government and the public. They provide an understanding of the size and shape of the gambling market in Great Britain as well as other key regulatory data. Some gambling licensees send us annual submissions, whilst others are submitted quarterly.
From November 2023 to February 2024, we consulted on proposed amendments to licence condition 15.3.1 of the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP). We proposed to increase the frequency for licensees that submit annual returns, so that all regulatory returns would be required quarterly. This would provide us with a timelier and more accurate assessment of the gambling market.
This consultation response summarises the responses received and explains our position.
In total, we received 45 individual responses. Two of these respondents provided multiple copies of the same response. We have therefore only counted one of their responses each.
We will amend licence condition 15.3.1 to require all licence holders to submit regulatory returns quarterly.
This will:
- have a material impact on our ability to budget, since we will gain an improved capacity to understand income levels and forecast more accurately
- provide a timelier, deeper, more accurate understanding of the gambling sector, in line with the Commission’s aspirations and the intentions of the government’s White Paper (opens a new tab)
- facilitate simpler systems development for the Gambling Commission.
Additional changes to the regulatory returns submittal process, that are not part of this consultation, but some of which were previously agreed in the 2020 Consultation: Changes to information requirements in the LCCP will be introduced at the same time.
These include:
- the removal of a number of questions
- the harmonisation of reporting periods across the industry.
These changes will come into force from 1 July 2024 for all licensees.
This means that the first set of quarterly regulatory returns (relating to the quarterly return period 1 July 2024 to 30 September 2024) must be submitted by all licensees by 28 October 2024. Further detail about the transition to quarterly returns and the harmonisation of reporting periods will be set out in communications to all licensees in the period April to June 2024.
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Introduction - Frequency of regulatory returns
Last updated: 2 April 2024
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