Charles Counsell was appointed as the interim chairman of the British Gambling Commission for a period of nine months.
United Kingdom.- Lisa Nandy, Secretary of State for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, appointed Charles Counsell OBE as the interim chairman of the British Gambling Commission. His term will last for nine months starting from February 1, 2025.
Counsell will replace Marcus Boyle, who announced in November that he would leave the position on January 31, 2025. His departure will mark the end of a tenure of over three years, which has seen significant reforms in the legislation and regulation of gambling in the UK.
Counsell has been with the Gambling Commission since April, serving as the senior independent director. Previously, he was the CEO of Money Advice Service and later of The Pensions Regulator, where he developed a new corporate strategy for pension savers and the body's first strategy on equality, diversity and inclusion, and climate change strategies, focused on driving change in the regulator and across the pensions sector.
The Gambling Commission detailed that Counsell's roles throughout his career have focused on establishing and executing large change programs that require significant stakeholder engagement, initially in the private sector and later in senior public sector appointments.
During Counsell's chairmanship, the reforms of gambling in Great Britain will continue. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has confirmed its plans to introduce a mandatory tax on gambling operators from April 2025 to fund research, education, and treatment.
Meanwhile, they confirmed plans to assess the gambling reforms introduced so far, working with the Gambling Commission to conduct an in-depth assessment and evaluate whether the measures taken to date have had unintended consequences.
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The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) will also participate in the review, which will include an assessment of measures such as affordability checks and new betting limits for online slots. Research methods will include surveys of consumers and operators, in-depth interviews, focus groups, and monitoring and tracking. The review is likely to provide an opportunity for operators and the horse racing sector to readdress their concerns about affordability controls.
The position of chairman of the Gambling Commission has a remuneration of £55,000 per year and the appointment is made in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments from the Cabinet Office, regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. According to the Code, any significant political activity carried out by an appointee in the last five years must be declared.
