The Parliamentary All Party Betting and Gaming Group (APBGG) has announced the extension of the deadline for its inquiry into the Gambling Commission of Great Britain, citing a high volume of complaints about the regulator.
The deadline has been extended by one month, now moved to 1 December.
The complaints were made by members of the industry, who felt that their concerns against the Gambling Commission were underrepresented in the Social and Economic Impact of the Gambling Industry report in 2020.
The APBGG also criticised the investigation into the collapse of Football Index as not being as “world beating” as the Gambling Commission claims.
The APBGG added that all licensed UK operators can still go to its website and submit relevant evidence against the UKGC.
Evidence can address where the Gambling Commission has acted beyond its regulatory powers, where it has breached the Regulators Code – which is enforced by the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006 – and where the Gambling Commission has provided poor quality service.
The report will be submitted to the department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s Gambling Act Review (DCMS), the responsible Minister for the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and the CEO of the Gambling Commission.
The DCMS launched its review of the 2005 Gambling Act in December 2020.
The report generated by the APBGG will also be submitted for publication on the APBGG website, for widespread distribution.
“We have been shocked by two things since we launched this investigation, the sheer scale and severity of evidence that has been submitted to us and the abject terror that the industry has of recriminations by the regulator,” said Scott Benton MP, co-chair of the APBGG.
“Without wishing to pre-judge the outcome of our investigation it does appear that this regulator has not been acting like any normal regulator for quite some time.”
