James Noyes, a senior fellow at think tank the Social Market Foundation (SMF), has joined British racing in calling on the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, to pause the implementation of affordability checks.
In an open letter penned to Nandy, first published by the Guardian, Noyes said he was “alarmed by reports” affordability checks could “prove unnecessarily burdensome to horseracing bettors, to the detriment of the sport”.
He also urged the government to instruct the Gambling Commission (GC) to halt their implementation “until there has been an adequate evaluation and scrutiny” of the pilot scheme.
The GC hasn’t yet released a report into the pilot for what the regulator calls ‘financial risk assessments’ and hasn’t provided any update on its progress since spring 2025.
Noyes, who had been an advocate for the introduction of affordability checks in reports published by the SMF in 2020 and 2021, also expressed concern about how the pilot “has involved inconsistent data, unclear outcomes and unnecessary friction”.
He acknowledged that checks were “a worthy idea in principle” but his recommendations were on the understanding the process would be “non-intrusive” rather than “impede the majority of gamblers from engaging in a lawful activity”.
He also insisted it was on the basis a gambling ombudsman would be set up to “ensure proper treatment of consumer redress and rights”.
Some of Noyes’ recommendations made it into the previous government’s white paper to overhaul Britain’s gambling laws published in 2023.
The letter also urged Nandy to “pay heed” to the warnings issued by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) over the damage caused by affordability checks.
Earlier this month, the British Horseracing Association (BHA)likewise wrote an open letter to the government in which the sport’s regulatory body insisted the implementation of affordability checks would be a “grave misjudgement”.
The BHA letter also suggested the checks would “do lasting damage” to an industry that provides 85,000 jobs and contributes £4bn a year to the country’s economy.
Martin Cruddace, Arena Racing Company CEO, operator of 16 British racecourses, has previous said these checks would directly cost the sport £250m over the next five years.
Meanwhile, a YouGov survey commissioned by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC)published last week revealed 65% of UK bettors wouldn’t submit financial documents like bank statements and payslips to operators to continue betting.
The industry’s trade body is calling on “fans of racing and betting” to contact their MPs about the proposed financial risk assessments as part of its ‘Save Our Bets’ campaign.
Operators in the UK have been carrying out affordability checks for several years in an effort avoid landing in hot water with the GC for allowing players to gamble beyond their means.
This friction in the customer journey – along with a reluctance to disclose financial information to operators – is part of the reason why the black market has flourished in recent years.
The BGC claimed £60m was potentially staked illegally during the Cheltenham Festival in March and that around 6% of stakes in Britain are now bet with illicit operators.
The government has provided the GC with an additional £26m to fight the black market, a sum roundly condemned as wholly inadequate by industry stakeholders.
Noyes concluded his letter by stating: “The current situation of financial risk checks is raising serious questions, which should be addressed by government before any further progress of that policy is made.
“I am therefore calling on the government to pay heed to the BHA’s warnings and to pause these checks until there has been adequate evaluation and scrutiny.”
The post Gambling reform supporter urges UK government to pause affordability checks first appeared on EGR Intel.
The Social Market Foundation’s James Noyes says the checks may be “unnecessarily burdensome” for horseracing bettors, while voicing concern over reports of the pilot scheme’s reliability
The post Gambling reform supporter urges UK government to pause affordability checks first appeared on EGR Intel.