Government Continues Inquiry into UK Gambling Laws Act of 2005

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the United Kingdom is expected to reconvene for its fifth inquiry to decide if the current gambling laws would need further revision. The project was started in May 2011 and was aimed at testing the operation and implementation of the UK gambling laws, specifically the Gambling Act 2005, and its effectiveness in relation to problem gambling.

Up until now the inquiry launched by the UK cabinet focused on finding out how effective the 2005 Act was in:

• ensuring that gambling is operated crime-free and carried out in an open and fair manner
• protecting children and easily vulnerable citizens from the adverse effects of gambling.

Other topics of the inquiry included:

• updating the regulatory and legislative framework with regards to online casinos in United Kingdom
• the financial implications of the Act on the overall UK gambling industry
• the effectiveness of the Gambling Commission since its creation
• the impact of off-shore online gambling operators proliferation on the UK gambling sector and what effect the Act has had on this
• the effectiveness of the classification and regulation of gaming machines under the Act
• what impact the Act was able to implement on the levels of problem gambling.

The previous session of the inquiry took place on November 8, 2011 and according to United Kingdom gambling news heard testimony from high ranking industry players including the Remote Gambling Association, Bet365, bwin.party, Betfair operators and Probability online software developer.

The following session is expected to focus on the evidence from representatives of the Quaker Action on Alcohol and Drugs (QAAD), The Methodist Church, The Evangelical Alliance, The National Centre for Social Research, The Salvation Army, CARE, GamCare, and a gambling expert from the University of Birmingham.

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