WELCOME from Miles Baron, Editor  From April 6th 2016 all licensed bingo operators are required under the Licensing Conditions and Code of Practice (LCCP) to offer multi-operator self-exclusion. After a long and often winding road the bingo industry self-exclusion scheme went live on 1st March 2016. For a large number of retail bingo clubs with existing membership schemes the solution was, at least in theory, relatively straightforward. This enabled the retail bingo clubs to commit to a national scheme; self – exclude in Newcastle and you have self-excluded in Torquay.
The non–membership licensed operators of bingo extra (high street) premises and Holiday Parks faced more of a challenge and have adopted a self-exclusion scheme based on locality and images of self-excluded customers. Self-exclusions from membership and non-membership premises are held on a shared database. For both types of premises, the taking of an image of each self-excluded customer is a mandatory part of the process. Bluntly put; no image provided, no self- exclusion registered.
Although in its early days, the scheme is already providing interesting information on where and why customers have chosen to request self-exclusion. By recognising unique customers across the bingo sector, the scheme is able to recognise duplicates, therefore greatly improving the accuracy of the numbers involved. Details of all gambling industry self-exclusion schemes can be found on the 'opt in to self-exclusion' website; an IGRG hosted sign post to those customers wishing to self-exclude across more than one sector.
So I am grateful not just to the members of the BA Standing Compliance Committee who oversaw this great example of bingo industry co-operation, but also to suppliers ISD and SmartEXCLUSION who have helped the BA to create a viable membership and non-membership based solution for all licensed bingo operators.
The Bingo Association is growing quickly. This is no doubt aided by the need for all licensees to be compliant with multi-operator self-exclusion measures by April 6th. Nevertheless it is great to see that all but one retail bingo club in the country is a member of the Association, whilst non retail membership is growing fast. In contrast, the number of licenced bingo operators appears to be reducing, a consequence, no doubt, of increasing regulation causing some operators on the margins to consider whether holding a bingo licence is worth the effort.
The first quarter of 2016 has seen a solid start for the industry and operators are cautiously optimistic. With only one club closed to date, the successful launch of Gala's new club in Southampton and large scale refurbishments planned in Rhyl and Stirling, there is much to look forward to. The next key event for the Industry will be the June release of the IpsosMORI research into problem gambling behaviours in Bingo, the preliminary results of which were announced at the Association's AGM in April. Whilst no major surprises are anticipated, there will still be learning and actions on how things can be done better to help protect our vulnerable customers, as and when the formal research is made public.
Much has been talked about proportionate regulation, and therefore the need to provide government and regulator with hard evidence is increasingly required. The IpsosMORI research and the bingo industry self-exclusion scheme are two initiatives that should help to satisfy that need although there will always be more to do.
Miles Baron
Editor
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