The UK Gambling Commission will publish the evidence, methodology and supporting data behind its financial risk assessment programme when it releases its consultation response this autumn.
Sarah Gardner, acting chief executive of the Commission, confirmed the timetable in a letter to Parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee.
The regulator announced a staged rollout of financial risk assessments on 7 July, before publishing the full consultation response that normally accompanies a final policy decision.
Gardner acknowledged that the sequence was outside the Commission’s usual process but said the early announcement was made in the interests of transparency.
Some commercially sensitive material will be aggregated or summarised. The regulator has not confirmed a publication date beyond autumn or identified which parts of the evidence will be presented in that form.
The Commission said fewer than 3% of customers would require an assessment under the completed framework. It expects 97% of those checks to be completed without customers providing documents, compared with the 80% estimate contained in the 2023 gambling white paper.
Gardner said document requests would not disappear because operators must continue meeting anti-money laundering, identity verification and fraud-prevention requirements.
Pilot findings showed that high-spending customers were between two and four times more likely to have a debt management plan and between two and five times more likely to have defaulted during the previous 12 months than the wider population.
Implementation groups involving gambling operators and credit reference agencies will meet during the summer to develop technical arrangements and guidance.
Horseracing organisations will not participate because membership is limited to businesses directly delivering the assessments. The Commission will consult racing separately.
Gardner said the British Horseracing Authority had accepted an offer to meet after being briefed alongside the gambling industry on 7 July.
The parliamentary committee had asked the Commission to explain the evidence supporting the thresholds, the likely impact on document checks and the extent of consultation with operators and racing.
