UK Gambling Commission urged to halt financial risk checks pending further review

Calls for greater clarity around the UK Gambling Commission’s financial risk checks have emerged after Dr. James Noyes recommended pausing the policy until the pilot scheme is fully reviewed.

In an open letter sent to UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, Noyes, one of the key early advocates of affordability checks for online gamblers, said the proposed checks should be suspended “until there has been adequate evaluation and scrutiny” of the pilot scheme intended to test how the measures would work in practice, reports The Guardian.

The UK Gambling Commission launched its pilot on what it describes as “financial risk assessments” in September 2024. The study was designed to assess a two-tier system aimed at identifying possible gambling-related harm while testing whether the checks could operate in a frictionless way, meaning customers would not need to submit financial documents to continue gambling.

The regulator has not published a final report on the pilot and has not issued a public update on its progress since spring 2025. Recent media reports have suggested the commission’s board could consider approving the checks at a meeting next month.

Noyes cites concerns over process and customer impact

Noyes said in his letter that he is “deeply concerned over a lack of transparency” regarding the checks and is “reading increasing reports that the pilot scheme has involved inconsistent data, unclear outcomes, and unnecessary friction.”

He also said he is “particularly alarmed by reports that checks will prove unnecessarily burdensome to horse racing bettors, to the detriment of that sport.”

His intervention aligns with concerns raised by senior figures in the horse racing industry, who have warned that the proposed checks could have a disproportionate effect on racing bettors. Industry representatives have said the measures could cost the sector tens of millions of pounds in revenue if customers decline to provide financial information to operators and instead turn to the black market.

Noyes said the government has “a duty to listen to the [British Horseracing Authority’s] warnings and to act accordingly, in order to protect such an important part of British cultural and social life.”

Earlier support tied to safeguards

Noyes was among the early public supporters of affordability checks when the policy was first proposed in 2020. A senior fellow at Social Market Foundation, he backed the measure in reports published in 2020 and 2021, and several of his recommendations were later included in the UK government’s gambling reform white paper released in April 2023.

In his letter, Noyes said affordability checks were “a worthy idea in principle” when first proposed, but his support was based on certain conditions. These included the creation of a gambling ombudsman to protect consumer redress and rights, the use of non-intrusive checks, and a system that would prevent serious gambling-related harm without restricting most customers from taking part in a lawful activity involving their own money.

He concluded: “The current situation of financial risk checks is raising serious questions, which should be addressed by the government before any further progress of that policy is made. I am therefore calling on the government to pay heed to the BHA’s warnings and to pause these checks until there has been adequate evaluation and scrutiny.”

Regulator says work continues

A spokesperson for the UK Gambling Commission said that the regulator is “continuing to work on financial risk assessments with one of the key focuses being on removing friction for consumers.”

“If introduced, consumers would not need to provide documents for the checks to be completed. As with any regulatory measure, we will be considering potential impacts for consumers and businesses before making a decision on financial risk assessments, including how they would work in practice if introduced,” the spokesperson added.