Protecting Children And Young People
Underage gambling: what does the law require?
It is an offence under the Gambling Act 2005 to invite, cause or permit a person under the age of 18 years to gamble, and to invite, cause or permit such a person to enter the premises if a licence is in effect and being used. Under the Social Responsibility Code betting shop operators must have and must put into effect policies and procedures designed to prevent underage gambling and monitor their effectiveness.
What is the situation in practice?
Walk into any betting shop and you are extremely unlikely to encounter anyone under the age of 18. Betting shops are simply not designed to appeal to them, and there is no evidence that youngsters find them attractive. With no need to keep large numbers of young people at bay it is hardly surprising that betting shops had, until recently, not invested in the development of systems to do so. Unfortunately the Gambling Commission has succeeded in creating an issue where there really isn’t one, by choosing to apply a flawed approach to test betting shop operators’ compliance with the letter of the law.
What is this approach to testing?
The Gambling Commission carries out “mystery shopper” exercises, in which young people, below the legal age of 18, are paid to enter betting shops. If the young person is challenged by the shop staff, then the shop is deemed to have passed.
This approach is flawed because, by being based entirely on agents provocateurs, it makes no attempt to establish the true extent of underage gambling in betting shops.
How has the industry responded?
Despite disputing the validity of the Commission’s methodology, we fully endorse the need to ensure that under age gambling is prevented and the Association of British Bookmakers (ABB) and our members have engaged with and responded to the Commission’s testing regime.
In February 2010 we formed the Bookmakers Age Verification Alliance (BAVA) with a view to enabling the UK’s five largest operators to take a coordinated approach to the issue and share best practice. BAVA meets regularly.
On April 1, 2010 we convened a Social Responsibility Forum on the subject of protecting children and young people. Speakers and attendees included senior representatives of major betting shop operators, the Gambling Commission, GamCare, Local Authorities, leading lawyers practising in this field and vendors of relevant technologies.
All five of the largest UK betting shop operators now commission their own age verification testing following the same basic methodology as the Gambling Commission. Of those who have shared the results of these tests with the ABB in 2010, all were significantly above a 65% pass rate.
The ABB aims to convene a “summit” meeting with the Gambling Commission, local authorities and other stakeholders in autumn 2010 in order to review the progress that the industry has made, exchange perspectives and agree priorities for the next 12 months.
Sets out the ABB’s position on issues that affect our industry.
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ABB members are mindful of their responsibilities to the communities within which they operate.
