BHA: Parliament must address racing realities on affordability checks 

The Petitions Committee has confirmed that Parliament will debate British horseracing’s concerns on affordability and financial risk checks on 26 February.

The date was scheduled following a petition led by Nevin Truesdale, Chief Executive of The Jockey Club, reaching the requirement of 100,000 signatures needed for parliamentary debate.

Endorsed by British racing stakeholders, the petition called on the UK government to abandon plans to implement mandatory affordability checks on customers with a net loss of £125 within a month, or £500 within a year, recommended in the Gambling Review’s White Paper.

As detailed by the Petition, British racing stakeholders believe that such checks are “inappropriate and discriminatory” and will lead to a negative effect across all elements of a sector which contributes “£4bn annually to the UK’s economy and supports 85,000 jobs”.

The scheduled date for a Parliamentary debate was welcomed by Julie Harrington, CEO of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA): “We are pleased that the important issue of affordability checks will now be subjected to proper levels of parliamentary scrutiny.”

“The fact that our survey reached the required 100,000 signatures threshold in just 27 days is a powerful testament to the strength of feeling shared by bettors over the proposed checks. This has today been recognised by the Petitions Committee.”

Despite the BHA’s opposition to mandatory affordability/financial risk checks, Harrington stated that British racing’s governing body understands regulatory responsibilities and efforts needed to prevent gambling harms and unsustainable losses.

The BHA maintains that concerns laid out by British horseracing have not been accounted for by the recommendations of the Gambling Review, as it faces a £250m loss in revenues over a five-year period should affordability checks be implemented.

Harrington explained: “No other form of leisure activity is subjected to the kinds of restrictions being proposed by the Government and so it is right that MPs have the chance to forensically debate this issue.”

Aware of racing’s concerns, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) stands by its assessment that affordability checks will be unintrusive and will only be conducted on 3% of gamblers via light credit reference checks.

The Commission stands by its White Paper estimate that only 0.3% of account holders will be asked to directly provide additional financial information – “as 99.7% of customers will remain uninterrupted.”

Harrington’s response concluded: “While we support the need to protect individuals from the risk of gambling-related harm, it remains the case that millions of people enjoy betting on horseracing without suffering any ill effects.

“The BHA will therefore continue to push for changes to the Gambling Commission’s proposals on affordability checks to protect the sport’s financial future and limit the impact on racing bettors.”