SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
DCMS has confirmed that at present, no minister has been assigned to oversee the brief of the Gambling Review.
The statement was made in light of the Racing Post announcing on Wednesday that Stuart Andrew, DCMS current Sports Minister would oversee gambling duties replacing Paul Scully.
This February, PM Rishi Sunak announced that DCMS would be restructured due to the government’s plan to form three new departments to strengthen Britain’s energy security, business trade and tech economy.
Sunak’s orders saw DCMS lose its duties overseeing digital affairs, which were transferred to the new Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (SIT).
Departmental changes saw former DCMS leader Michelle Donelan announced as first Secretary of Science and Technology, who will form the new department with Paul Scully, who was taken off the gambling brief.
Having finished duties on the Government’s first White Paper of Football’s Fan Led Review, media sources cited that Stuart Andrew (MP for Pudsey, West Yorkshire) would be tasked with overseeing the final stages of the Gambling Review.
However, DCMS denied the appointment, stating that no minister had been appointed by the government. Should an appointment take place, the incumbent will be the sixth minister to oversee the Gambling Review since its announcement in 2020.
DCMS maintains that Gambling’s White Paper “will be published in the coming weeks” but will not provide a definitive timeline.
Today, the Racing Post reported that new Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer “had taken a much greater interest” in the Gambling Review than her predecessor Michelle Donelan.
Latest news reports cite that the government will seek to publish the White Paper before Parliament’s Easter recess on 30 March.
Ministers are reported to want to conclude gambling affairs prior to campaigning for Local Election in England on 4 May not to be in-breach of ‘purdah rules’ – a period in which policy announcements should not be made.
