UKGC Plans to Update Gambling Participation and Prevalence Statistics Collection

Earlier this year, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) announced the launch of a consultation seeking to change the way gambling participation and prevalence statistics are collected. Those statistics are used by the UKGC to determine the levels of problem gambling, gambling participation and gambling activity in the country.

UKGC to Launch a Pilot Research

This past Wednesday, the UKGC announced that it is now moving to the next phase that aims to “improve the quality of its adult gambling participation and prevalence statistics.” Based on responses from stakeholders who participated in the consultation, the GC launched a tender process to appoint a research partner that will lead a pilot phase of the project. As a result, NatCen Social Research and the University of Glasgow were approved to lead the pilot phase of the project.

The pilot, which will run between October 2021 and March 2022, will involve stakeholder engagement, cognitive testing and a pilot survey using a new push to web methodology where participants will complete the survey online.”

UK Gambling Commission

The pilot phase will run from October 2021 through March 2022. During that time, NatCen Social Research, in collaboration with the University of Glasgow and Bryson Purdon Social Research, will test a new methodology for collecting gambling prevalence and participation statistics. Collaborating, the research partners will conduct cognitive testing, as well as a pilot survey online. After that, all collected data from the pilot will be evaluated, and recommendations will be set for the next stage of the process.

The New Methodology Is Expected to Help Statistics Collection

The UKGC revealed that if the pilot is successful, a new approach toward collecting gambling participation and prevalence statistics would be created. Once that approach is implemented, the UKGC said that it will introduce “a single population survey for the whole of Great Britain.” This will allow the regulator to gain new insights and determine new trends on gambling participation in the country.

Last but not least, the UKGC explained that “gambling participation and prevalence statistics are published as official statistics.” It added that those statistics are created while following standards set by the Code of Practice for Statistic and the Government Statistical Service. 

This month, the regulatory agency has been quite active. Only recently, the UKGC suspended BGO Entertainment’s license after it recorded activities that may have been in breach of gambling regulations. Consequently, it decided to suspend BGO’s license and conduct a further review.