Leading UK gambling companies sign up to Safer Gambling Commitments

• Betting and Gaming Council industry body launched with focus on championing standards
• 5 core safer gambling commitments with 22 new actions to address safer gambling
• Includes 4 year national campaign to educate young people delivered by GamCare and YGam
• Commitment to independent monitoring and evaluation

The Chief Executives of the leading gambling companies in the UK, including Aspers, bet365, Caesars, Flutter Entertainment (Paddy Power Betfair), Genting, GVC (LadbrokesCoral), Playtech, Rank Group, Sky Betting & Gaming and William Hill, today announce a package of Safer Gambling Commitments to address the harm gambling can cause to customers and young people.

The Safer Gambling Commitments represent the most comprehensive set of measures from a wide group of leaders across the sector to support the UK Gambling Commission’s National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms. They will deliver long-term and fundamental changes in how gambling companies are run in the UK and how they empower, protect and support their customers.

The five core safer gambling Commitments are targeted to:

• Prevent underage gambling and protect young people;
• Increase support for treatment of gambling harm;
• Strengthen and expand codes of practice for advertising and marketing;
• Protect and empower our customers and;
• Promote a culture of safer gambling.

One of the first actions being announced today is a new four-year national campaign to educate young people, which is being shaped and delivered by two charities, GamCare and YGAM. The charities will work with young people, their parents, families and the youth professional workforce to improve awareness and understanding of the risks associated with gambling. The Commitments will also see the development of new codes of conduct for direct and affiliate marketing and sponsorship activities.

To ensure transparency, the signatories have committed that the Safer Gambling Commitments will be regularly and publicly reported on, with an independent monitoring and evaluation process consistent with the best practice approach used by public bodies, including the Gambling Commission, HM Treasury and UK Evaluation Society.

Support for the Safer Gambling Commitments, comes on the same day that a new representative body for the UK’s betting and gaming industry formally launches, with new measures for identifying and reducing harmful play. The Betting and Gaming Council will represent betting shops, online gaming businesses and casinos, and has been established in response to calls for the industry to work together to guarantee an enjoyable, fair and safe betting and gaming experience for all.

Commenting on the announcement, Brigid Simmonds OBE, Chairman of the Betting and Gaming Council, said:

“I am delighted to be launching the Betting and Gaming Council and to welcome these commitments from the chief executives. The commitments are a major step towards preventing underage gambling and addressing harm. Working together as an industry we will create a culture of safer gambling – increasing the competency of professionals who educate young people, increasing support for treatment, strengthening and expanding codes of practice and empowering consumers.”

“These are commitments that the BGC champion and drive forward to build public and institutional trust in our industry.”

Commenting on the announcement, Peter Jackson, Chief Executive of Flutter Entertainment, said:

“These commitments are an important step forward for the sector in their own right and also signal a genuine desire to ensure that acting responsibly is at the heart of our businesses.”

Safer Gambling Commitments