As there are concerns about the fairness of the licensing process surrounding the National Lottery in the UK, the DCMS launched an inquiry on its process of assessing all competitors for the National Lottery licence. The Fourth National Lottery Competition began on 28 August 2020 and it is handled by the UK Gambling Commission as well as its Advisory Panel.
Meanwhile, last week, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) expressed concerns about the newer gambling forms that gained huge popularity in the last few months. In a letter addressed to the Parliament, the APPG expressed its concerns on gambling forms like social casinos, slot streaming, loot boxes, and placing bets on esports.
DCMS Launches Inquiry Into National Lottery Licence Competition
As the new licence holder for the National Lottery operation is due to be chosen this year, there have been many speculations about the fairness of the process of granting the licence. This is one of the reasons for the DCMS launching an inquiry into the way the National Lottery operator is chosen.
Even though there were some issues due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the competition for the new National Lottery licence holder launched on 28 August of last year. The current holder of the licence is the Camelot Group and the competition is to determine the new operator who will be granted a 10-year National Lottery licence. There is, however, a huge possibility that Camelot Group will be selected as the lottery operator for the fourth consecutive time.
It was announced that the competition’s purpose is to ensure that both UK players and charities will benefit from the innovations and creativity of the new license holder. Despite the setbacks caused by the pandemic, DCMS is determined to announce the new license holder in September, granting a transition period of two years, allowing the new operators to take full control over the National Lottery.
The concerns about the fairness of the competition came after complaints about Camelot Group’s profit significantly surpassing the benefits for good causes. As a response, the DCMS ensured that there will be amendments to the new National Lottery license, requiring contributions to charities to increase proportionally to the operator’s profits.
Thanks to its inquiry, the DCMS is aiming to discover whether the Fourth Competition was conducted successfully and how the increase in good cause returns will be calculated. Other points included in the inquiry concern the smooth transition between the new and the former operator and what additional factors should be taken into consideration to ensure a successful operation of the new licence holder.
Some of the participants in the Fourth Competition and Camelot’s rivals include Allwyn, Northern & Shell Group, Sisal Entertainment, and Sugal & Damani Enterprises.
APPG Calls for Better Regulation of Newer Gambling Forms
In an open letter to the Parliament, the APPG asked for the Government to take some serious measures to regulate some of the newer gambling forms that have taken over the population. The letter was signed by Carolyn Harris, chair of the APPG, and Lord Foster, chair of Peers for Gambling Reform.
In the letter, the APPG is asking for the Government to focus on activities such as esports betting, slot streaming, social casinos, and loot boxes during its ongoing review of the 2005 Gambling Act. The group’s concerns were caused by social casinos and slot streaming not being considered as forms of gambling.
To support its concerns, the APPG quotes statistics showing that 3-4% of all adults in the UK are playing at social casinos. Meanwhile, the slot streams watched on the platform Twitch during the previous month reached 32.5 million hours.
The APPG acknowledged the Government’s progress in regulating loot boxes by conducting a review on the possible harm they might cause. The group, however, cited a study on loot boxes that described them as “coercive and controlling”. As for the esports betting concerns, the APPG noted that allowing in-play bets during esports games may cause harm to high-risk bettors.
In the letter, Carolyn Harris and Lord Foster asked for a detailed review of these four new forms of gambling. They also noted that if the Government fails to acknowledge the potential harms of these gambling events, the new gambling regulations may not be ready to tackle the issues that may come with the evolution of the digital era.