UKGC Has Its Tasks Cut Out As Andrew Rhodes Takes Over As Permanent CEO

Summary

• Rhodes becomes the permanent UKGC boss after acting as interim CEO for 18 months
• The UKGC operates under the new leadership tandem of Rhodes and Marcus Boyle
• The Commission will adopt a new gambling harms survey methodology

Andrew Rhodes will now permanently head the UK Gambling Commission after having been officially appointed as the regulator’s new Chief Executive.

Rhodes, who previously held senior roles at the DVLA, the Food Standards Agency and the Department for Work and Pensions, acted as interim CEO of the gambling watchdog under an 18-month contract following the resignation of Neil McArthur.

It was during McArthur’s tenure as UKGC boss that the regulator was found to have committed failings concerning the Football Index fiasco. The Commission was widely criticized for not acting promptly when it discovered that the site was operating on a novel, complicated platform structure and business model.

New Era for UKGC

Rhodes’ impressive performance during his first few months as interim head of the UKGC played a major role in his appointment as the agency’s permanent CEO. Despite the controversy hounding the Commission arising from the Football Index debacle, the agency was still able to provide advice and insights for the government’s Gambling Act review, and it was made possible through Rhodes’ supervision.

As interim CEO of the UKGC, Rhodes, a former Swansea University registrar, also took charge of the bids and processes involved in the awarding of the UK’s fourth National Lottery license which ultimately went to Allwyn UK.

In its appointment of Rhodes, the UKGC said the CEO will work closely with the Commission’s senior leadership team and Board of Commissioners to effectively regulate the country’s gambling sector.

It will be a new era for the UKGC as it now operates under fresh leadership. Rhodes will work alongside Marcus Boyle who was appointed as Chair of the Commission back in September, replacing Bill Moyes.

The pair already indicated that the UK’s gambling industry needs a “tougher” regulator and that full compliance with the law and achieving the highest standards will be a key objective of the Commission going forward, regardless of the results of the Gambling Act review. The agency will particularly go after repeat offenders to encourage behavioral changes among operators.

New Methodology for Gambling Harms Surveys

Forming part of the new era of the UKGC is the use of a new methodology to measure and assess gambling harm. Future gambling harms surveys will be carried out using a push-to-web methodology wherein participants will respond to the survey online.

Furthermore, the surveys will now include a sample size of 20,000 individuals. The Commission, in partnership with the NatCen Social Research, already conducted a pilot of the new methodology which ended on March 2022.