From Neil McArthur – Chief Exec, Gambling Commission
As the situation with COVID-19 continues to impact daily life in Great Britain, like many of you, the Commission is following Public Health England guidance and we have told all staff to work from home until further notice.
We recognise these unprecedented circumstances will be having a significant impact on your business and many will be facing uncertain and unsettling times. The Commission has a well-practised and comprehensive Business Continuity Plan, which we have invoked with the intention of minimising the impact on our regulatory work and the advice and services we provide.
A number of operators have already contacted us to alert us to the challenges they face and seek our advice about how to respond. We realise that the unprecedented changes to daily life, and in some cases, financial uncertainty, will create challenges for your business. The changes will also increase the risks to some individuals, which means that despite the fact that these are challenging times we must all continue to protect consumers.
First and foremost, we expect all our licensees to follow the applicable Public Health guidance, which I am confident you will already be doing. Where facilities for gambling are being offered we expect all our licensees to ensure that they have sufficient management, staffing and oversight in place to maintain compliance with the LCCP that apply to their licences. The social distancing measures that are being put in place will mean that more people will be at home and we would like to remind online operators that they must continue to act responsibly, especially in regards to individual customer affordability and increased social responsibility interactions.
Please get in touch with your Account Manager in the normal way to notify of any key events or questions you have during this time. If you have other questions or queries, please let me know and I will do my best to get you an answer