The regulator has published its annual accounts for 2022-23.
UK.- The Gambling Commission has published a summary of its accounts and enforcement actions for the 2022-23 financial year. It noted that it was a year of change with the appointment of Andrew Rhodes as CEO.
The British regulator took enforcement action against 24 of the 2,400 operators licensed to offer gambling in the UK, levying £60.1m in enforcement fines and regulatory settlements (£20.9 million in fines and £39.2 million in regulatory settlements).
It highlighted its record penalties against William Hill (£19.2m) and Entain (£17m) for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures.
“We made clear in 2021 that we would take escalating measures against recidivist behaviour and that is exactly what we have done,” the regulator reported.
“We took enforcement action against a total of 24 operators this past year, for breaching our regulatory requirements, but we saw many more working closely with us, as part of our improvement activities, to make themselves compliant.”
The commission’s Sports Betting Intelligence Unit received 511 enquiries and made 2,733 intelligence reports, of which 223 were raised to Incident Referral Form’s (IRFs).
As for its accounts, licensing fees and other sources of income rose to £26m, up from the £20m in 2021-22. That doesn’t include £22.5 from GIA funding for the National Lottery. The regulator processed 150 operator licences and 1,900 personal licences.
Operational costs (including depreciation) fell by £4m to £41m. Of that, £19.3m went on monitoring the UK gambling sector minus National Lottery. Employee costs totalled £19m, with £3m related to the National Lottery licence tender.
UK gambling white paper
The Gambling Commission noted that it has outlined five objectives as it prepares for regulatory reforms following the publication of the UK government’s gambling white paper: protecting children and vulnerable people from harm, fostering a fairer market with more informed consumers, keeping gambling crime-free, optimising the National Lottery’s return to good causes and improving regulation.
It noted that it has expanded its teams anticipating a broader operational and enforcement scope, taking on 132 new staff. It noted that staff turnover had fallen and the year saw it win two employment awards, one for best workplace and a Great Place to Work accreditation.
Rhodes and chair Marcu Boyle wrote in the introduction to the report: “We face one of the busiest milestone years in the commission’s history as we push to consult on, and implement, the key actions from the government’s Gambling Act Review White Paper.
“That will need everyone in the industry working closely and to one common goal – to make Great Britain’s hugely innovative gambling sector the safest and fairest it can be.”
