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31 August 2007

Gambling advertising policy under fire by top responsible gaming body


British government officials in the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and the UK Gambling Commission have come under fire for "...not setting up a telephone service to help with the higher numbers of problem gamblers that the [increased] advertising will inevitably create."

Gambling charity GamCare said it deplored the UK government’s decision not to require gambling advertisements on television to include a helpline number.

From September 1, when the Gambling Act comes into effect in Britain, gambling operators will be able to advertise on television, and GamCare has criticised the DCMS and the Gambling Commission for not setting up a telephone service to help with the higher numbers of problem gamblers that the advertising will inevitably create.

"Advertising works, which is why companies pay large sums of money to advertise," the Gamcare statement asserts. "Gambling advertising will produce more gamblers which will in turn produce more problem gamblers, despite protestations to the contrary.”
Gamcare chairman Anthony Jennens said: “GamCare wishes to express the sincere hope that Government will revise its policy on the Helpline number and that the ten years of hard work that have gone into the creation of the charity will not have been wasted.”

In a related report, the Financial Times quotes UK Minister for Sport with responsibility for gambling Gerry Sutcliffe as saying that he would not accept any increase in problem gambling once the Gambling Act comes into force, and that officials would be closely studying an imminent report from the industry regulator on the prevalence of gambling. The Minister was speaking in a live British Broadcasting Corporation interview.

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