Gambling Commission

always one. anyone got any answers instead of questions.

i know. you give them, they take.

how can this be?

exactly. protection money sort of scenario. and they give gadaffi a hard time.

thay are joining up with the national lottery i am led to believe, would imagine a few will lose their jobs as both seem to have the same sort of senior management structure.

make a pefect match, both making money for doing nowt,

yeah, heard that. theyre expanding. something very wrong there

THIS SAYS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW!!I WRITE in response to Jenny Williams, chief executive of the Gambling Commission (Letters, September 16), replying to Geoff Ellis's letter (September 12). Mr Ellis wanted to know what he is paying for. Well, perhaps I can help.

From the commission's website, Ms Williams' salary was between pounds 170,000-pounds 175,000 per annum, plus pounds 21,400 benefits in kind (whatever they are for). Her pay is therefore at least pounds 48,900 more than that of the prime minister.

Perhaps she should consider remitting a large portion - after all, it's not as if she's doing a particularly good job. Witness the Hampton Implementation Review Report, which found the commission falling short in a number of areas, including its responsibilities with regard to the economic vitality of the sector.

It also found conflicting views within the commission as to the extent to which it is responsible for setting a regulatory framework within which members of the gambling industry can operate effectively as a business. Amazingly, "the commission appeared to the review team to be less comfortable with this role. We believe this may be partly due to perceived sensitivities regarding the ethical issues associated with the gambling sector".

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I'm sure this didn't apply to Ms Williams, although her letter contained the assertion that there was "... deep-seated public concern about gambling" - this despite the commission's own figures (British Gambling Prevalence Survey, 2007) that showed 68 per cent of adults gambled.

Mr Ellis said in his letter he would like to pay his fees in instalments. Ms Williams came up with the old excuse that the law does not allow this. I thought one of the commission's remits was to advise the government on changes to the law. Only now, after five years of bullying the independent sector, is it "exploring the scope for amending the act ..." However, as she says, the commission has kept its fees as low as possible, and this is true for the major operators, who pay only about pounds 100 per shop - 1,700 per cent less than the single independent.

If the Tote were taken over by Betfred, Coral, Hills or Ladbrokes their licence fees would not increase and the commission's income would fall by approximately what Ms Williams is paid!

She goes on to say there are only 50 home-based compliance officers. Well, if each visited three shops a week that would cover about 7,000 shops a year, so in no more than two years the whole lot could be visited.

She also says licence fees are used carefully, with tackling sports betting corruption one use. Yes, one successful 'caution' over some after-time bets at Coventry greyhounds.

Ms Williams mentions advising the government on the impact of gambling. Does this include the loss to the government of tax due to competition from offshore and unlicensed onshore bookmakers (see Hampton report again)? I recall when the commission was set up, the UK was to be the global centre for gambling excellence. With the finest regulated betting industry, this could still be so - if the tax and licensing regime wasn't so punitive.

Ms Williams, according to the commission's website, is a trustee of a charity, Connection at St Martins (unpaid, very noble), and, until this year, was a nonexecutive director of Northumbrian Water Group, being paid a pounds 37,000 director's fee for the year ending March 31.

The average UK salary is pounds 24,000.
!!!!! Read it and weap.