UKGC's Self-Exclusion Program Failing?

A BBC reporter has conducted a journal investigation in which he signed up to the gambling self-exclusion scheme in the English town of Grimsby – and the results were not encouraging.

In 2016, Senet Group subsidiary, Multi-Operator Self-Exclusion Scheme, launched the self-exclusion plan for UK betting shops. In order to put the regulatory mechanisms to the test, BBC undertook a trial with a journalist investigating the scheme's efficiency. He was playing on numerous betting machines and only after his 16th foray (and the 16th machine) was he challenged and asked to leave by the system.

This suggests that there are some flaws with the multi-operator self-exclusion program and UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has reacted immediately, stating they will take measures to revise and adjust the system. Sarah Gardner, UKGC's executive director, commented: “The result of the BBC investigation is concerning and we'll be making our own inquiries into what happened in this case. We're determined to drive improvements in behaviour across the industry in terms of the effort they put into reducing gambling-related harm, and it really is getting to the stage where there is nowhere to hide for businesses who don't take this seriously.”

However, there are those who are of the opinion that BBC's investigation wasn't actually flawless itself. Take the Association of British Bookmakers spokesman for instance, who did confess the system, “is not without its flaws,” but also questions the very approach and execution of BBC's reporter. “This is a disappointing result.”, he said. “However, it was conducted in artificial circumstances, involving a small sample, over a short period of time and the individual concerned was not a problem gambler or previously known to shop staff”.

He added that, an independent reviewer of this self-exclusion scheme found that, as much as 83% of those participating deemed the scheme effective in helping them with their gambling addiction.

Source:

“Gambling Commission 'concerned' over self-exclusion report”, igamingbusiness.com, December 19, 2017.