By Gabriel Princewill-
An experts by experience group are to merge forces with the UK Gambling Commission to act in an advisory capacity and raise standards across the regulator’s operations.
The UK Gambling Commission announced on Friday set plans to work with an interim Experts by Experience Group to raise standards and advise the regulator on a more established basis.
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The objective of the group is to provide advice, evidence, and recommendations to the Commission to help inform decision making and raise standards, along with co-creating a permanent Experts by Experience Advisory Group to advise the regulator on a more established basis.
The plan is a potentially brilliant one which could truly raise the standards of the Gambling Commission. Despite some of its past flaws, the Gambling Commission has often meted out fines to offending gambling networks. However, the level of accountability to individual transgressing has not always been above par.
Perspectives
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At a workshop last March, people who had lived the experience of gamblers were asked to offer perspectives on key topics including High Value Customers, Advertising Technology, and Safe Game design.
The group also discussed ideas about how the Commission could more effectively with people with real life gambling experience to facilitate a more effective engagement and collaboration to benefit consumers. The idea was to galvanise an integrated team to prevent harm and make gambling safer.
“Our goal is to make gambling safer for consumers and the creation of the interim group is another important step in helping us bring a wider range of perspectives into our work,” said UKGC Chief Executive, Neil McArthur. “We will work with the interim group to co-create a formal Advisory Board, which will allow us to involve Experts by Experience more closely in the development of our regulatory framework.”
“I am really grateful for the open and constructive way in which members of the interim group have shared their personal experiences of gambling-related harm and for everyone’s commitment to work together to tackle these important issues. It is early days and we are learning along the way to ensure that feedback and advice is utilized in the most effective way.
This week we looked at the subject of affordability and we’ll be focused on other areas of player protection online in the weeks ahead,” he added.
“The Interim Group comprises a group of people who have suffered a wide range of gambling harms, including recovering gambling addicts, family and partners of addicts, and those who have lost children to gambling suicides,” a spokesperson for the Interim Group said.
“The role that is too often allocated to Experts by Experience (EbEs) of telling our stories and commenting on narrowly defined questions is ineffective, so the establishment of the group is long overdue.”
“We are determined that EbEs should play a continuing and much more active role in the deliberations and decision making across the whole remit of the Commission as part of the National Strategy to reduce gambling harms. We bring a new and vital perspective on key issues of regulation and even how the Commission itself works,” he continued.
“We and they are learning how we can best work together, but we feel that there is a genuine commitment all round to make it work. Some of our comments were incorporated into the progress update on the industry-led working groups, but in the future we may issue our own comments on issues that we have consulted with the Commission. We appreciate that the Commission recognizes the value of our input, but we differ on certain key issues.
Notably on how far and how fast improvements can be made. We look forward to working with the Commission,” he concluded.
Six Months
The interim group will be in place for at least the next six months when the Commission plans to move to a permanent Advisory Group, which will add to other advice that the regulator receives through groups such as the Advisory Board for Safer Gambling and the Digital Advisory Panel.
The interim group will be in place for at least the next six months, when the Commission plans to move to a permanent Advisory Group, which will add to other advice that the regulator receives through groups such as the Advisory Board for Safer Gambling and the Digital Advisory Panel.
Advice
The UK Gambling Commission announced on Friday that the working with an interim Experts by Experience Group who will provide advice, evidence, and recommendations to the Commission to help inform decision making and raise standards, along with co-creating a permanent Experts by Experience Advisory Group to advise the regulator on a more established basis.
The creation of the interim forum follows a workshop in March, in which people with lived experience were asked to offer perspectives on key topics including High Value Customers, Advertising Technology, and Safe Game design – three areas the regulator had challenged the industry to make progress on quickly.
The group also discussed ideas about how the Commission could better work with people with lived experience and the need for more effective engagement and collaboration to benefit consumers, working together to prevent harm and make gambling safer.
“Our goal is to make gambling safer for consumers and the creation of the interim group is another important step in helping us bring a wider range of perspectives into our work,” said UKGC Chief Executive, Neil McArthur. “We will work with the interim group to co-create a formal Advisory Board, which will allow us to involve Experts by Experience more closely in the development of our regulatory framework.”
“I am really grateful for the open and constructive way in which members of the interim group have shared their personal experiences of gambling-related harm and for everyone’s commitment to work together to tackle these important issues. It is early days and we are learning along the way to ensure that feedback and advice is utilized in the most effective way.
This week we looked at the subject of affordability and we’ll be focused on other areas of player protection online in the weeks ahead,” he added.
“The Interim Group comprises a group of people who have suffered a wide range of gambling harms, including recovering gambling addicts, family and partners of addicts, and those who have lost children to gambling suicides,” a spokesperson for the Interim Group said. “The role that is too often allocated to Experts by Experience (EbEs) of telling our stories and commenting on narrowly defined questions is ineffective, so the establishment of the group is long overdue.”
“We are determined that EbEs should play a continuing and much more active role in the deliberations and decision making across the whole remit of the Commission as part of the National Strategy to reduce gambling harms. We bring a new and vital perspective on key issues of regulation and even how the Commission itself works,” he continued.
“We and they are learning how we can best work together, but we feel that there is a genuine commitment all round to make it work. Some of our comments were incorporated into the progress update on the industry-led working groups, but in the future we may issue our own comments on issues that we have consulted with the Commission. We appreciate that the Commission recognizes the value of our input, but we differ on certain key issues.
Notably on how far and how fast improvements can be made. We look forward to working with the Commission,” he concluded.
The interim group will be in place for at least the next six months when the Commission plans to move to a permanent Advisory Group, which will add to other advice that the regulator receives through groups such as the Advisory Board for Safer Gambling and the Digital Advisory Panel.
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