The White Paper’s pre-consultation consultation process has commenced with bacta chief executive John White describing the trade association’s most recent meeting with DCMS as being ‘transparent, progressive and hugely encouraging.’
White believes that the meeting confirmed the seriousness with which Government is approaching the implementation of its White Paper recommendations.
He stated: “I would say that we’ve moved from the ‘if’ stage to the ‘how’ stage: in other words, we are now involved in detailed discussions regarding what it is that has to be addressed in order to progress the White Paper recommendations.”
The main focus for the most recent bacta DCMS meeting, which was held 1st June, was the proposed introduction of modern payment methods with the bacta team which included members of the Management Committee providing a talk through of the trade association’s draft protocol which was agreed and presented last year.
“We are very conscious of the need to explain the detail contained in our draft protocol in particular the safe guards that we have incorporated in order to build friction into the system including time delays/prompts in order for players to reflect on their expenditure, limit-setting and the provision of access to safer gambling information and materials at the point of play.
“The DCMS team has accepted an invitation to experience how such a protocol will work and we are in the process of organising a facility visit to a London AGC in order to demonstrate the package of checks and balances that we are advocating.
“Everyone accepts that we have a generational opportunity to modernise low-stake land-based gambling and that it’s a bizarre anomaly that we are the only sector on the high street that is not permitted to offer modern payment methods. Our job is to provide DCMS with the reassurances they need to demonstrate that contactless payments is accompanied by a powerful programme of safer gambling undertakings.