The House of Lords Liaison Committee heard evidence on 17 June. It was part of follow-up work after the 2020 Lords report on gambling harms, which made 66 recommendations before the 2023 White Paper.
Campaigners Shift Focus to Digital Ads
Advertising occupied a central place because it has seen fewer direct reforms than other parts of the sector. Slot stake limits and the statutory levy are now in force, while the Gambling Commission has also received extra funding for illegal market enforcement. Marketing regulation continues to depend on voluntary approaches and advertising codes.
Campaigners argued that this approach no longer fits the current market. James Grimes from Chapter One said policy has to address current products. Will Prochaska from the Coalition to End Gambling Ads highlighted content marketing as one of the main issues. Dr Raffaello Rossi from the University of Bristol noted that social media content alters the risk pattern for younger people.
Illegal Market Frames the Government Line
Industry witnesses moved the discussion in a different direction. Grainne Hurst from the Betting and Gaming Council, among others from the gambling industry, argued that too many restrictions might push customers toward unlicensed sites.
DCMS witnesses also kept the illegal market high on the agenda. Gambling minister Baroness Twycross said the government wanted the regulated market to develop, along with crackdowns on the black market. The minister also noted that there is a correlation between ad exposure and participation, but that a causal link between advertising and harms remains hard to establish.
Campaigners argued that this level of proof was excessive. For them, the point is that repeated exposure increases participation in the activity.
Self-Regulation Faces New Pressure
The primary regulation issue was whether self-regulation could catch up with digital marketing. Voluntary measures like the whistle-to-whistle ban on sports advertising were championed by the BGC. Campaigners argued that newer digital formats make the line between entertainment and advertising harder to police.
Allegations related to offshore platforms were also discussed during the hearing. According to CEGA, games from licensed providers had appeared on MyStake and Donbet. Hurst argued against any allegation that BGC members had knowingly supplied illegal operators and indicated possible cloning and IP theft.
Sarah Gardner, acting chief executive of the UKGC, concluded the hearing with some statistics on enforcement activity. She mentioned that during the last financial year, the regulator had issued about 740 cease-and-desist notices, reported 400,000 URLs to search engines, and saw just under 270,000 removed.
Expert View
The hearing does not point to quick primary legislation on gambling ads. Illegal market enforcement has a clearer timetable. Legal advertising reform may move through research, guidance and existing codes. For market participants, the next test is evidence of control: where ads appear, how content is labelled, and whether licensed products can be traced away from unlicensed sites.
