Despite the Gambling Commission stating that it has been proactive in its engagement with the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) over the implementation of Financial Risk Assessments (FRAs), the latter doesn’t seem convinced.
Last week, Sarah Gardner, Acting Chief Officer of the Commission, responded to a query by the Culture, Media and Sport Committee relating to the Commission’s communication with gaming stakeholders prior to the FRA announcement on 7 July.
In her response, among other things, Gardner assured that the BHA has been individually invited to discuss the legislative decision, with the Authority allegedly only responding to the follow-up email.
“In our letter which we sent to the BHA on [7 July], we set out further details and offered a further meeting to discuss the decision. This week, we followed up that letter and reiterated our offer of a meeting, and I am delighted that the BHA has now responded to accept the offer of such a meeting,” Gardner said.
Racing publication the Racing Post has now revealed details around that engagement which Gardner omitted from her response at first glance, that being the BHA’s two-month efforts to facilitate a two-sided conversation prior to the Commission’s FRA announcement, alas to no avail.
Speaking to the media outlet, a BHA spokesperson said: “We’re disappointed that the Gambling Commission’s response to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s letter does not recognise our concern about its engagement with stakeholders and due process.
“As the Racing Post’s recent freedom of information request uncovered, the Commission did not engage with the BHA in the weeks leading up to the board’s decision and subsequent announcement on July 7. This was despite our best efforts to do so.”
The gambling and racing industries have vocally criticised the Commission for a perceived lack of evidence published prior to the announcement of the planned FRA rollout.
This was acknowledged by Gardner herself, who said that the full evidence will be published in the Autumn.
The reason being is that the implementation groups are scheduled to convene during the summer, where both gambling operators and credit reference agencies will meet to inform the Commission’s consultation response.
However, the BHA maintains that the absence of any evidence to support the Commission’s decision is a fault on the regulator’s part.
“The Commission has now admitted that taking the decision to implement affordability checks without publishing the evidence was outside its normal process. The letter quotes its previous commitment to publish ‘a final and full response to the consultation with our decision’,” the BHA spokesperson concluded for the Racing Post.
“In addition – and despite the major issues in the process that have now publicly come to light – the Department for Culture, Media and Sport continues to delegate policymaking to an unelected quango.”
It remains to be seen whether stakeholders can be appeased once the full database, evidence and methodology behind FRAs are released later this year.
