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Strategy

National Strategic Assessment 2020

This report sets out our latest assessment of the issues we face and the risks that gambling poses to consumers and the public

Published
6 November 2020

Last updated
2 June 2021 - Changes

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  1. Contents
  2. Measuring the effectiveness of gambling regulation

Measuring the effectiveness of gambling regulation

The Gambling Commission wants to see a fair and safe gambling market where all consumers and the interests of the wider public are protected.

We want the capability to measure our progress towards this goal.

  • using our regulatory and criminal powers
  • from the way the gambling industry acts towards consumers.

To do this we need to better understand the needs of consumers and the wider public and develop a suite of metrics that can show the impact that our work is having. By making more data available we hope to improve the available evidence base to consumers and proactively influence the industry to improve consumer outcomes.

We collect or have access to a large variety of gambling-related data. But we want to make sure that the metrics we use are those that will best demonstrate an impact and are not simply those for which we have data available. Not all the things that we want to measure currently are captured in a form that we can use, so this work will continue to develop.

We will work with partners to establish new sources of data and information that will best demonstrate the difference we are making. We will aim to keep our metrics easy to understand and effective, and as a result, we may not include all the potentials listed in our final suite of measures.

Examples of some of the areas where we are exploring establishing metrics include:

To ensure gambling is kept free from crime and from being associated with crime

Aim: British consumers are protected from harm related to illegal gambling

  • data on prevalence of and access to unlicensed/illegal operators by British consumers
  • data on crimes committed to fund gambling
  • data on instances or reports of suspected money laundering
  • data on instances or reports of Sports Betting Integrity issues.

To ensure gambling is conducted in a fair and open way

Aim: An increase in public trust that gambling is fair and transparent

  • data on public trust that gambling is fair and transparent
  • complaints data about the conduct of licensees and the conduct of the Gambling Commission
  • data on the proportion of consumers that wanted to make a complaint, but were put off or unable to do so
  • data or information from our compliance and enforcement work that demonstrates the extent to which licensees are compliant with regulatory and legal requirements
  • data from the ASA to monitor complaints about gambling advertising.

To protect children and other vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling

Aim: A reduction in gambling related harm

  • data on underage gambling participation on age-restricted products
  • data to assess children’s exposure to gambling advertising
  • data on problem and at-risk gambling rates
  • data on the prevalence and severity of specific gambling related harms in Great Britain - financial, health, relationship
  • data on licensees’ actions around KYC checks and affordability
  • data on patterns of play.

These areas will need to be considered and developed further to ensure that the measures are sufficiently robust.

Ultimately, we want consumers and the wider public to be better informed about how gambling regulation is shaping the products, services and safeguards they receive from licensees. We will continue to explore options for how regulatory data can be made available to proactively influence the conduct of licensees.

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