GovWire

We received 87 responses to the land-based gambling consultation. The responses received represented a wide variety of stakeholders, including: researchers, adult gaming centre (AGC) operators, bingo operators, campaign organisations, casino operators, individuals, local authorities, pub representatives and responses from the wider gambling industry. We also received 16 additional responses to a supplementary consultation which was held specifically to gather further evidence on the reform of the 80/20 rule. The majority of these responses came from respondents who submitted evidence to the original consultation. However, we also received evidence form a small number of additional respondents.

In general, responses received from gambling industry respondents typically argued for the most liberalised position across the range of measures outlined in the consultation. Industry responses frequently highlighted the commercial pressures placed on their businesses in recent years - as a result of COVID-19 inactivity and rising energy costs - as a central reason for necessitating greater commercial flexibility. Many also highlighted the changing gambling landscape since the 2005 Gambling Act and the need for new regulation which is proportional to the gambling-related harm risks associated with the sector. By contrast, licensing authorities and respondents from the third sector tended to highlight the risk of increased gambling-related harm as a result of increasing commercial flexibility for businesses. The majority of these respondents argued for measures which tended to be more restrictive of the gambling products available within the land-based sector.