Bookmakers pledge £100m to avoid gambling crackdown

The UK's biggest gambling firms are offering the government a significant
increase in the money they contribute to tackling problem gambling.

The owners of William Hill, Coral Ladbroke, Betfair Paddy Power, Skybet and
Bet 365 will offer to increase the voluntary levy on their gambling profits, the BBC has learnt.

They have offered to up the levy from 0.1% to 1% over the next five years.

The new level would eventually raise £100m per year for gambling charities.

Last year, the voluntary levy raised £10m.

The firms made the pledge in a letter to the Department for Media Culture and
Sport seen by the BBC.

The Gambling Commission recently said the need for more staff, research and
treatment required an annual contribution from the industry of £70m.

The firms said they would also consider increasing the amount of safer gambling
messaging and reviewing the "tone and content" of its advertising.

The pre-emptive offer is part of an effort by the industry to improve its image
after what insiders acknowledge was a reputation-damaging battle over Fixed
Odds Betting Terminals which eventually saw the maximum stake in any one
spin reduced from £100 to £2.

One source told the BBC that "the industry is on a precipice - if we don't get
ahead of this we will end up where the alcohol industry was ten years ago
and tobacco thirty years ago. The fear is that we face a ban on touchline
advertising or football shirt sponsorship"

The gambling firms have already agreed to a voluntary "whistle to whistle" ban on
advertising during sporting events from August of this year.

In an extract of the letter to Jeremy Wright, the firms say that as companies
representing half of the gambling industry, "we are committing to collaborate
to address gambling-related harm with the priority of protecting the young
and vulnerable."

Labour Deputy leader Tom Watson has described Britian's "gambling epidemic"
as a public health crisis as it can lead to debt, loneliness and suicide.

He has called for all gambling firms to be forced to reapply for their licence to
review their commitment to corporate responsibility. He has also recommended
the establishment of a gambling ombudsman to provide redress for customers
who are treated poorly.

A recent report published in the British Medical Journal found that the economic
and social harms of problem gambling have been underestimated.

The gambling commission estimates there are 430,000 people with a serious
gambling addiction in the UK. If you include those they deem at risk of addiction
the number rises to over two million



https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48690743