Away from the furore created by the choice of Manchester as the location for Britain’s first Vegas-style casino, the Gambling Commission continues its work in preparation for gambling under the new laws. Consultation papers have been opened on several fronts, including ‘Remote technical standards’ and ‘Gambling advertisements and the impact on responsible gambling’. National and international test houses have been invited to submit applications to be appointed to assess compliance with standards on gaming machines and remote gambling systems.

This process will start in March, so that successful test houses should be able to test to the Commission's standards from June. The standards will put new protections in place for players from September 2007. All prospective test houses will be required to undergo a Commission assessment on the suitability, integrity and independence of their operation. The applicants will also need to demonstrate accreditation to BS EN ISO 17025, plus any additional features (skills, capabilities, capacity) that may be required to test to the Commission's technical standards.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) will shortly be consulting on their proposal on how one player position constitutes one gaming machine. Part 10 of the Gambling Act 2005 contains a variety of provisions about gaming machines. The supply and installation of any gaming machine that accepts credit or debit cards will be prohibited, and there are detailed proposals on the circumstances in which a gaming machine is made available for use. The closing date for responses to the Consultation on Gaming Machine Regulations is Thursday 3 May 2007. A summary of responses will then be published.

HM Treasury has invited comment on draft legislation for Remote Gaming Duty that will be introduced in the Finance Bill 2007. Remote gaming will be a mainstream gambling activity in competition with other gambling sectors and the Government intends to bring it within the scope of gambling taxation so that it can, like other parts of the gambling industry, make a fair contribution to general tax revenues. The industry has been asked to comment by Monday 19 February 2007 so that the government ensures that the legislation has the intended effect and that proposals for the administration of the tax are workable and efficient. (E-02.12.07)

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