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British Government Moves Forward on Major Review of Gaming Laws

"This will be a comprehensive review taking into account a wide range of issues, from the growth in e-commerce and technology, to the social impact, costs and benefits of gambling,'' Home Secretary Jack Straw said in a statement.

The government had said in December that it would set up the Gambling Review Body. In the details announced last week, Straw said the review would "consider the current state of the gambling industry and the ways in which it might change over the next 10 years . . . .''

The review will make recommendations on regulations, Straw said, with regard to their social impact, the need to protect the young and all gamblers from unfair practices, the need to keep the industry free of crime, the international competitiveness and economic welfare of the United Kingdom, taxation, the possible need for streamlining existing laws and treatment programs for problem gamblers.

The group will not consider changes to the National Lottery, Straw said, but will consider the impact on the Lottery of any changes it proposes.

As in many countries, various forms of gambling in Britain are regulated by different laws. The most important one is the Gaming Act of 1968.

Some rules have been loosened in recent years. To gamble at a casino or bingo hall, players still have to apply for membership in advance. But the waiting period has been reduced from 48 hours to 24 hours. And players can now apply by fax, rather than in person, which makes things much easier for tourists. Also, advertising restrictions are less stringent.

"There's been a modernizing of regulations, and a more trusting relationship'' between the government and the gaming industry, is how the changes are characterized by Steven Philippsohn, a gaming lawyer in London with the firm Philippsohn Crawfords Berwald.

But that doesn't mean the work of the Gambling Review Body will result in quick or major changes to the whole regulatory scheme.

"I think it would be a brave man who assumes that there will be any significant change in U.K. gambling legislation within 10 years,'' Anthony R. Coles told RGT Online in a recent interview. "I may be wrong on that, but it's certainly not imminent.'' Coles concentrates in gaming and e-commerce law for the London firm Jeffrey Green Russell.

"What is more imminent is controls over bookmaking offshore, because the government sees itself losing revenue there,'' Coles said.

To avoid a betting tax that ranges from 6.75 percent to 9 percent, several veteran British bookmakers have moved offshore. Coles said the government will propose legislation this spring that would make it more difficult for offshore bookmakers to accept bets from the U.K.

In addition, the Gaming Board for Great Britain is conducting its own review of Internet gaming, which of course didn't exist when the 1968 law was passed. The Board is expected to make recommendations in the first half of this year, Coles said.

Wes Himes, who works for a London public relations firm called Policy Action Limited, thinks the work of the Gambling Review Body will influence all of Europe. He wants the online gaming industry to get organized in the U.K.

"You can be assured that efforts will be made to restrict online gaming,'' Himes told RGT Online. "The findings will serve as a template, or at least a signpost, for other countries to influence their regulation. This is the type of debate the industry needs to get into now.''

Himes hopes to persuade the Interactive Gaming Council, which is a North American-based trade group, to set up an affiliate in the U.K.

In his announcement last week, Straw said that Sir Alan Budd, the Provost of Queen's College Oxford and former Chief Economic Advisor to the Treasury, will chair the Gambling Review Body. Other appointments to the group will be announced soon.

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