The Gambling Commission is being criticized for hiding the names of problem betting operators in exchange for charity donations.

In the last five years, the regulator has placed 38 failing gambling companies under special measures, using a process that hides company names from the public. To avoid formal regulatory action, betting firms can choose to pay the total profits from their regulatory mistakes to designated charities. Since 202, these charity payments reached about £2 million, while the national betting revenue in Britain totaled close to £15.6 billion as of March 2024.

This arrangement faces strong criticism. Some have called it a “protective bubble” for the gambling industry. Details about the special measures regime stopped being published after December 2021, with new numbers revealed only after The Observer accessed them using freedom of information rules.

Don Foster, the Liberal Democrat peer and chairperson for Peers for Gambling Reform, explained that making decisions in secret does not help protect gamblers from risk or harm. Foster said the lack of openness is unacceptable.

An inquest in June 2023 revealed Betfair, the brand managed by Flutter, did not identify Ashton as showing signs of problem gambling. The Gambling Commission revealed after the inquest that Betfair was in special measures when Ashton died. To avoid formal investigation, Betfair paid £635,123 to charities under the special measures rules.

According to Betfair, the company has changed its player protection systems since early 2021.

Annie Ashton, Luke Ashton’s widow, believes industry reputation often matters more to the regulator than player safety. She notes that hidden arrangements protect company image even in cases involving severe harm, such as gambling-related death. Annie called for clear reporting of which operators have regulatory failings and said secret deals prevent learning from past errors.

She described meeting Andrew Rhodes, the Gambling Commission’s chief executive, after her husband’s death. According to Annie, Rhodes did not tell her that the company had already entered special measures.

Matt Zarb-Cousin, from Clean Up Gambling, argued that the public needs full visibility over which operators breach consumer protection standards. He said the Gambling Commission should publish the names of all firms under special measures to allow people to make informed choices.

The regulatory body uses special measures when companies admit failings, and the commission judges there is minimal chance of continuing harm to consumers. In its statement, the Gambling Commission noted that most regulators use different intervention strategies and often avoid announcing all actions below certain thresholds. Independent research, they claim, found that previous regulatory actions do not influence customers’ choice of gambling providers.

The commission continues to publish results of enforcement and keeps a public register listing its regulatory actions. According to the commission, Rhodes met Annie Ashton and other families affected by gambling-related deaths as a group.