Dozens of betting companies were secretly placed in special measures

The gambling watchdog has put 38 failing betting firms into special measures in the past five years under a secretive regime that prevents the companies being identified.

- Jon Ungoed-Thomas

Betting firms can avoid formal action by the regulator by offering to pay any profits made from regulatory failings to good causes. Since 2020, the payments agreed with the Gambling Commission have totalled about £2m, compared with total betting revenues in Britain of about £15.6bn, to March 2024.

The Gambling Commission has been challenged over the arrangement for acting like a “protective bubble” for the betting industry. The commission has not published any details of the regime since December 2021, with the new figures obtained by The Observer under freedom of information laws.

Don Foster, the Liberal Democrat peer and chair of Peers for Gambling Reform, said: “It’s totally wrong to do these things behind closed doors. It’s not helping to protect gamblers and it’s unacceptable.”

The secrecy around the special measures was highlighted in the case of Luke Ashton, 40, who took his life in April 2021 after becoming addicted to gambling. An inquest in June 2023 highlighted that the brand Betfair had failed to flag Ashton as a problem gambler.