SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) is seeking feedback and guidance on changing the ‘research methodology’ used to collect data on gambling participation and problem gambling prevalence statistics.
The Commission has launched a consultation for feedback on its new approach, which aims to establish a new ‘standard on research into gambling behaviours’.
As part of its regulatory function, the UKGC is tasked with providing the government with the most accurate data and insights on gambling participation and further factors influencing problem gambling.
To date, the UKGC has collected its data by conducting surveys of UK adults, with research produced in accordance with the standards set out by the Government Statistical Service in the ‘Code of Practice for Statistics‘.
“The Commission is ambitious about improving the quality, robustness and timeliness of our statistics. We therefore set out a commitment in our 2020/21 Business Plan to ‘review our approach to measuring participation and prevalence and publish conclusions,” the UKGC detailed in its statement.
Conducting its review of gambling industry’s ‘social and economic harms’, the House of Lords Select Committee chaired by Lord Grade of Yarmouth cited that problem gambling had been undermined by lack of ‘reliable facts’ on the subject matter.
