BISL calls on UK government to reintroduce the Triennial Review and offer the gambling industry better support

Business in Sport and Leisure (BISL), the key strategic body representing the private sector in sport and leisure, has called on the UK government and the Gambling Commission to reinstate the Triennial Review.

In its submission to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s inquiry into gambling and the Gambling Act 2005, BISL has been forthright in its recommendation that the Triennial Review should be reintroduced immediately as a means of conducting the regulation of gaming machines.

The Triennial Review, it stated, fits the criteria for evidence-based policy-making for gaming machines, adding that there was no clear reason why it had been considered no longer fit for purpose.

Dominic Harrison, Chief Executive of BISL said: “Machines have often been made the scapegoat in terms of political discord and action despite there being no evidence of them causing a disproportionate amount of harm.

“The removal of Section 16 and Section 21 type products, for example, was not evidence-based, and had a significant impact on commercial venues.”

He added: “The recent treatment of gaming machines in terms of legislation, regulation and scrutiny by the Gambling Commission and the government has rarely been evidence-based, has occasionally been ill-considered and, ultimately, has proved highly damaging commercially to relevant sectors, including bingo clubs and snooker clubs.”

BISL stated that gambling should be accepted as a legitimate and widely-enjoyed leisure pursuit, noting the industry’s strong record of helping to tackle problem gambling, and said it was time to stop treating it as a ‘political football’.

It observed that gambling is key part of the entertainment industry and an area of potential economic growth that could create jobs and raise revenue.

With that in mind, it expressed disappointment that, in its view, the DCMS and the Gambling Commission had not done enough to promote the industry, calling on both to act as a supportive sponsor and on the UK government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport to work more closely with the Treasury to develop positive policies for gambling.

BISL also suggested there had been a lack of consistency between the approaches taken towards online and land-based gambling.

Harrison argued there was little sense in making gaming machines subject to far stricter legislation in the modern world of digital penetration, commenting: “The rules on machines located in retail environments should be made consistent with the rules that apply online.

“We further recommend that the UK Government works to deliver an EU-wide level playing field for gambling taxation.”

With that level playing field, BISL believes British companies that have moved their operations overseas could be encouraged to repatriate, belatedly achieving the Gambling Act’s ambition of establishing the UK as a competitive place of business for the burgeoning online gambling industry.

Image caption: Dominic Harrison, CEO, Business In Sport & Leisure

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