The Adam Smith Institute, Britain’s leading innovator of free-market economic and social policies, called the UK Gambling Commission “an overfed regulatory watchdog with a bizarre system for raising revenues”.
The Gambling Commission appears to be running out of control and without purpose, claims the institute in its analysis. The bureaucratic body has grown to 200 full-time staff costing tax-payers £15.4 million a year, yet its workload is likely to be much smaller that initially predicted. This is due to the fact that only one “super casino” will be created, rather than allowing the market to determine the number of Las Vegas style sites and most of the remote gambling operators will stay offshore avoiding high taxation.
The report also questions the logic behind five-band licensing fees of betting shops. The bands are based on numbers of betting shops and the fees increase sharply when you move from one band to the next.
Visit Adam Smith Institute’s page to read full report.
