New inquiry into the Gambling Act 2005

We have just heard that on 17 May the Culture, Media & Sport Committee launched a new inquiry into gambling, looking in particular at the implementation and operation of the Gambling Act 2005.

The deadline for written submissions is Thursday 30th June and the Committee is requesting views on the following issues:

•    How effective the Act has been in its core objectives to: 


- ensure that gambling is maintained crime-free and conducted in an open and fair manner,

- protect children and vulnerable people from the adverse effects of gambling,

- update the legislative framework with regards to online gambling;


•    the financial impact of the Act on the UK gambling industry;


•    the effectiveness of the Gambling Commission since its establishment, and whether it represents good value for money;


•    the impact of the proliferation of off-shore online gambling operators on the UK gambling sector and what effect the Act has had on this;


•    why the Act has not resulted in any new licences for casinos or “super” casinos;


•    the effectiveness of the classification and regulation of gaming machines under the Act;


•    what impact the Act has had on levels of problem gambling.

How to respond

The Committee is inviting written submissions on the above and other matters relevant to the inquiry. A copy of the submission should be sent by e-mail to cmsev@parliament.uk and should have ‘Gambling’ in the subject line. Submissions should be received by Thursday 30 June 2011.

There are quite strict rules on submitting written evidence to Select Committees, so please do follow the guidelines. For instance, make sure you include all necessary information about yourself in your email, then make your submission a single attachment which should be a Word document of UP TO 3000 words or run to no more than 6 sides of A4, begin with a short summary and have numbered paragraphs.

See also the above information on www.parliament.uk (link updated)

This information came from a campaigner in Harringey. Strangely it was not information supplied to us by our parliamentary representative.

Ironically, the June 30th deadline co-incides with the day the Planning Inspectorate announces its response to Betfred's appeal. (We now know the appeal won't be decided until October or possibly as early as end of August)