UK’s Gambling Commission (GC) has announced the plans to overhaul its licensing processes, starting scrapping the dedicated account manager model. According to the GC, operators will no longer have an individual point of contact and that licensing will now comprise of four sub-groups, each of which will be responsible for different areas of work.
The four sub-groups will be; operating license group, change of corporate control group, operating license vary group and personal license group.
The operating license group will be responsible for processing applications for new operator licenses, while the change of corporate control group will be responsible for processing applications relating to changes of ownership and control for existing operators.
The operating license vary group will be responsible for processing applications relating to changes to existing operator licenses, while the personal license group will be responsible for processing all applications relating to personal licenses.
According to the GC in a statement, the Commission is changing their working practices, to make the best use of available resources, and that by working in this new way, they hope to be able to process applications faster. They also hope to be able to resolve queries more efficiently and effectively. However, the process for submission of applications will remain the same.
In 2020, there was a call for evidence that the GC has sufficient investigative, enforcement and sanctioning powers that will bring about change, and improve standards in the gambling industry, which apparently necessitated a comprehensive review of the 2005 Gambling Act.
These changes to the licensing processes comes, as the GC is awaiting the publication of the Gambling Act white paper, which became necessary after the review of the Act. According to the British’s Gambling Business Group (GBG), the white paper, will form part of the country’s Gambling Act Review and that its publication appeared to be imminent.
The white paper is expected to address a wide range of topics relating to the gambling sector.
