Entain: shock and awe?
Lesson to be learnt from Entain's record fine and the first part of our look at what gambling can expect from the Tory leadership hopefuls
Welcome to a special summer edition of Pinchpoint, the go-to source for news and analysis from the world of safer gambling, affordability and operational compliance.
We lead with the news today of Entain’s record fine from the UK Gambling Commission for a series of social responsibility and AML failures.
Then we offer the first of our assessments of the Tory leadership contenders and what their respective Premierships might mean for the gambling industry. We start with Liz Truss, looking at what she has said on the issue previously (spoiler alert: not a lot) and look at who her backers are and what they might extract as the price of their support.
A carpeting
The details of the failings that led to today’s eye-watering penalty for Entain aren’t easy reading. Probably intentionally, the fine and accompanying ruling have the feel of “pour encourager les autres” about them. Read the details here.
Within the dismal detail, though, are some interesting policy asides from the Commission which shed new light on their expectations and approaches.
These include statements such as “failing to conduct enhanced customer due diligence checks soon enough” and “placing excessive reliance on open-source information”. Only a few weeks ago, Leo Vegas was fined for “setting spend triggers for Safer Gambling Team customer review significantly higher than the average customer’s spend without any explanation as to how this was appropriate”.
Take the hint
To us, the message that the commission is sending the industry is clear: ignorance is not a strategy.
The Commission expects operators to know, and to want to know, appropriate and accurate information about their customers, early on.
What’s missing still? A clear steer from the government as to the levels at which such checks should be made, and what qualifies as a correct judgement. Rules, in other words - the kind which look about to be set out in the White Paper. And that might depend upon who wins the Tory leadership election.
In Liz We Truss?
Our look at what the two contenders to be the next Prime Minister might mean for the gambling industry and the impending White Paper specifically starts with the favourite Liz Truss.
Should bookies have their fingers crossed and hope for a Truss premiership? Or is this one of those where they really need the favourite to lose?
Truss has no record of interest in gambling-related issues during her time in Parliament. She has not joined any of the All-Party groups, asked any questions, or tabled any bills but, as Truss has been a minister for most of the last decade, we shouldn’t read too much into this.
She also does not have any gambling-related employers in her South West Norfolk constituency. There’s the non-league football team Swaffham Town and stock cars competing at a disused racecourse. Good sport but quite thin betting markets, one would have thought.
And the winners are…
It’s September 5th and Liz Truss has won. For several days, senior politicians come in an out of Downing Street to be hired or fired, promoted, demoted, recognised and rewarded. The gambling White Paper awaits one of them.
Even though Truss may not be focused on gambling, many of her supporters definitely are. Can they leverage their support to influence the outcome?
Our analysis shows that Team Truss is a veritable who’s who of MPs with a strong interest in the sector and in issues of safer gambling.
They include the last gambling minister, Chris Philp as well as Julian Knight, the chair of the DCMS Select Committee which scrutinises the Department.
Several of her prominent supporters have actively engaged in the debate around gambling harms. Mark Pritchard spoke out against FOBTs in his constituency while Paul Bristow challenged the government recently on the proliferation of high- street betting and gaming.
Jackie Doyle Price has spoken out about football sponsorship on behalf of families who have lost loved ones to gambling-related suicide.
And, of course, there is Iain Duncan Smith, former party leader and flag bearer for a form of Conservatism with a strong social conscience. IDS, as he is known, was one of Truss’s first backers, lending huge credibility at a critical time. He is also a (if not the) leading campaigner on gambling harms in Parliament. In May this year he promised to “declare war” if proposed reforms were watered down.
On the other hand, Truss has also attracted support from MPs who might be considered sympathetic to the gambling industry and have, for example, visited gambling businesses in their constituencies and made positive comments about the jobs they bring.
There is also Laurence Robertson, former Chair of the All Party Betting and Gaming group (see our recent issue) who often speaks out against controls. Cheltenham racecourse is in his constituency but his interest is no doubt assisted by a £2,000 a month consulting fee from the Betting and Gaming Council. As Private Eye might say, trebles all round.
Our view
Team Truss is a genuine cross-section of the debate in Parliament about the gambling industry.
Backers with a strong constituency interest, particularly racecourses and bookmakers, will no doubt push to soften aspects of the White Paper which might affect local jobs and investment, but their focus might be on issues such as a horseracing levy rather than stake limits and affordability checks for online play.
Yet the weight of opinion seems to favour those who have argued most consistently, for the longest, and with great passion, to address the harms rather than protect the industry.
Under Truss, we think the evidence points to a rapid publication of the White Paper in substantially its draft form and, during the process, a chance that some of the provisions will be tightened up or implemented at the stricter end of the levels mentioned.
Stay tuned next week for our analysis of a Prime Minister Sunak.
About
Pinchpoint is a newsletter from Department of Trust and BetBudget.
The newsletter is published independently under the editorial supervision of Scott Longley of Clear Concise Media. Pinchpoint is not affiliated with any other publications.
We hope you find it useful and, as ever with these things, if you think any of your colleagues would be interested, then please feel free to share.
Contact
Charles Cohen, DoTrust: charles@dotrust.co.uk