UK’s RGSB Publishes Progress Report on the National Responsible Gambling Strategy

Ever since the National Responsible Gambling Strategy 2016-2019 was introduced by the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board, the authority has been publishing annual reports on its progress. This year the second such document was released by the RGSB, whose main objective is protection of UK consumers out of which around 430,000 are recognized as problem gamblers.

Just like in its previous reports, the authority uses red, amber and green scales as ratings, whose role is to reflect the overall concern of the RGSB on various points of interest. Certain covered issues include progress against the delivery of priority actions, overall achievement as well as level of risk. Moreover, the parts of the report focus on detailed assessment of ratings and progress, estimation of RET funding requirements and authority’s conclusions.

Summary of the Overall Progress and Responsibilities

The summary of the overall progress and responsibilities focuses on who’s responsible for the improvement of certain points of interest as well as the points themselves. There are 12 priority actions in total, including understanding and measuring harm, engagement with relevant public-sector bodies and consolidating a culture of evaluation.

There are four groups that are key to delivering responsibilities and those are the RGSB, the UKGM, the GambleAware and the gambling industry. In the summary, under each priority action it is revealed whether there has been any progress as well as who’s responsible for that particular field.

Thus, for example, there haven’t been any significant progress when it comes to improving methods of identifying harmful play; this responsibility belongs to the gambling industry as well as the GA. On the other hand, progress has been noted in widening and strengthening the research field and improving knowledge exchange. This progress happened thanks to the GA and RGSB.

A downwards arrow is seen under the self-exclusion priority action, for which responsible are the GA, the UKGC and the gambling industry. Priority action 3 i.e. evaluation of interventions is also far from being well-established and something that the three previously mentioned representatives must work harder on.

UK Gambling Commission Comments on the Progress Report

The progress report by the RGSB didn’t go unnoticed by the UK Gambling Commission and therefore its executive director Tim Miller commented on it. He pointed out that the report was reaffirming their views that there was still some work to be done when it comes to consumer protection from gambling related harms.

He highlighted that there has been progress indeed, but also expressed concerns that certain points of interest haven’t been moving with the desired speed. Creating a gambling market that offers both enjoyment and choice to players was mentioned as a top priority; moreover, this market is supposed to protect consumers from risks related to gambling.

Finally, in the comment regarding the progress report, Miller stressed that these challenges were not something they could tackle alone. Therefore, he concluded that the UKGC needs “continued strong partnerships” with other regulating bodies, government as well as consumer representatives.