Gambling Commission (Jersey) Law 200-
REPORT
Background
In March 2005, the States debated P62/04, Modernisation of the Island’s Gambling Legislation. As a consequence of that debate, the States agreed, in principle, that legislation be brought forward for approval by the Assembly to establish a Gambling Commission. This draft Law puts the State’s decision into effect.
As part of the same 2005 debate, the States agreed that the purpose of the Commission should be licensing, regulation, harm reduction/social responsibility and ensuring that gambling issues do not harm the Island’s international reputation. In advance of the presentation of this Law a Shadow Gambling Commission was established by the Minister in December 2006 after an open competition in line with the guidelines of the Appointments Commission.
The role of the Shadow Commissioners was to prepare for the transition to an independent statutory Authority and to advise the Minister for Economic Development on modernisation of the Island’s gambling laws, reporting on international regulatory good practice, consult on proposals for modernisation and liaise with the Jersey gambling industry to address the impact of old legislation on modern business practices.
The Effect of the Law
The Law creates an independent Authority by transferring all responsibilities for licensing, registration and regulation prescribed in legislation as the duty of Minister to the new Authority. The role and responsibilities of the Gambling Licensing Authority is likewise transferred to the Commission. However, functions in relation to the Channel Islands Lottery or any Order-making powers remain with the Minister. A new primary gambling law and regulations will be presented to the States in 2010. It is envisaged that while the award of contracts for point of sale and production of games for the Channel Island’s Lottery will remain the preserve of the Minister, the Commission will be charged with some regulatory responsibility in respect of agents and responsible gambling adherence.
The Law introduces a set of Guiding Principles; these correspond with the licensing objectives of other gambling regulators such as the UK’s Gambling Commission, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission and the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission. The Commission must have regard to these principles in the performance of all its functions and make certain that gambling services:
should be conducted responsibly and with safeguards necessary to protect children and vulnerable people;
should be regulated in accordance with generally accepted international standards to prevent fraud and money laundering, and should not be permitted to be a source of crime; and
should be verifiably fair to consumers of those services.
These principles also consolidate those governing tenets of the Shadow Commission which are to ensure Jersey retains its excellent international reputation as a well regulated jurisdiction and, while encouraging business growth, assure potential harm is minimised and programmes are introduced to protect the young and the vulnerable. In respect of the latter objective, the Shadow Commission has introduced Tacade and representatives of the Gordon Moody Trust to the Island to provide advice and educational training services.
In accordance with the suggestions for the formation of a gambling trust during the 2005 debate, the law requires the Commission to create a social responsibility fund, accounted for separately from its other funds and used solely for its responsible gambling function. This fund will be financed by raising a social responsibility levy on gambling service providers. The levy can be raised annually and directed at holders of certain types of licence. Holders of these targeted licences must declare their gambling turnover; however, the rate of the levy may not exceed 2% of this turnover.
Amongst other initiatives in the field of responsible gambling, the levy will fund a strategy to deliver a threefold programme of –
Education and prevention – knowledge should be aimed at the prevention of gambling problems; as well as on the identification and management of problem gambling;
Treatment and Counselling – this should be free and confidential to everyone requiring help with gambling problems,
Research – Jersey should learn from and contribute to best practice being developed overseas as well as establishing levels of problem gambling within the Island.
The reason for pursuing a statutory levy rather than relying on a voluntary contribution, although the fund may accept these donations, reflects analysis of the difficulties experienced in Great Britain by attempting to secure regular annual funding through discretional payment. While there are no grounds to doubt the good will of the Jersey industry towards responsible gambling initiatives, and in all likelihood the industry would be first approached to produce donations, having a mechanism within the law to arrange and manage funding remains a wise precaution. The Law also protects the industry, by giving the right to appeal the rate of the levy if it is felt to be disproportionate and unduly onerous.
Financial/manpower implications
The Minister for Economic Development proposes to support the Gambling Commission with an annual grant of £225,000; however this grant will reduce in accordance with the pending introduction of a stepped approach to full cost recovery for regulation. This undertaking is consistent with the States “user pays” principles detailed in Financial Direction No 4.1.
However, the Commission will be compact. Under the transitional provisions for this Law it is proposed that the two Commissioners and Chairman of the Shadow Commission should transfer to become non-executives of the Authority. To enable further consistency an option is offered for those staff involved with the administrative functions of both the Shadow Commission and gambling law and regulations to transfer to the Commission.
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