The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has revealed that it will shut down the Advisory Board for Safer Gambling (ABSG). The decision comes from the regulator’s belief that the board has completed its original objectives when it was set up in 2019, which was to provide a level of oversight and feedback regarding the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harm.
helping gambling harm become recognized as a public health matter
The announcement on Friday recognized some of the ABSG’s key wins, such as helping gambling harm become recognized as a public health matter, securing the inclusion of people who have lived experience of gambling addiction to be part of the shaping of future policy and regulation with the creation of the Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP), and the introduction of a mandatory gambling levy on operators to fund addiction research, treatment, and education.
The UKGC now plans to create a new research-focused group made up of experts to further look into matters related to problem gambling. Talking about the ABSG’s success, UKGC Chief Executive Andrew Rhodes said that it “played an important role in shaping how we think about gambling harms.”
