Gambling regulation: problem gambling and protecting vulnerable people
This report examines the extent to which gambling regulation protects people from gambling‑related harms and addresses emerging risks.
28 Feb 2020
Many public services are now delivered through 'quasi markets' - halfway between public sector delivery and the free market. Quasi-markets are where multiple buyers can purchase from multiple sellers, with the government able to ensure quality, conduct and, sometimes, user choice and/or price. Protection can be provided in various ways, such as government regulation, the sector's self-regulation, or through government enforcing controls.
This is a fairly new way for government to deliver public services. To be successful it must achieve a delicate balance between protective measures and encouraging competition and growth, and between choice and fragmentation. It must allow market mechanisms to work while ensuring universal and equitable services. This takes new skills, new ways of thinking and working and the recognition that for markets to work, failure must be allowed and must be managed.
Key NAO publications:
This report examines the extent to which gambling regulation protects people from gambling‑related harms and addresses emerging risks.
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The newly-created Competition and Markets Authority has made significant progress in improving how the UK’s competition regime works, and it is now more coherent than before. Business awareness of competition law, however, is low and while it has improved the robustness of its enforcement casework, the regime has so far not produced a substantial flow of enforcement decisions or fines.