The government on Thursday is set to make an exciting announcement for revealing a plan which is expected to replace the existing levy system so as to capture all the betting, whether done online or in the shops on horseracing. This move is much of an anticipated one in the world of horse racing as the stakeholders have long lobbied with the government to take some action to check the leak in the horse racing’s finances. It has been observed that the betters have shifted their base from betting shops to offshore online operations which have costed the sport a big sum of money.
The conservative minister of parliament of Harrow East, Mr. Bob Blackman has tabled a questionnaire for the culture, sport and media session to be asked in the House of Commons to identify the progress made on replacing the present levy on horse racing.
It is expected that the response of the minister is set to be tabulated and communicated either orally or in a written form of communication, with the government set to use secondary legislation to make sure that all the betting operations are covered. The govt. is also expected to set out a timetable to ensure that the new system is put in place by April 2017.
The government would as well look at policy intent to ensure that the interest returns to the game of horse racing and moves away from other things like offshore betting. Along with this, there would be several other things that would be announced in the budget to be presented on March 16th.
Boosted funds
The levy on horse racing bettingpreviously helped the government earn around £100 mn.ayear and the changes are expected to bring in an additional income of around £30 mn.per year. In 2014, the gambling bill which covered advertising and licensing was restructured by the, then government in power, which gave the ministers additional powers to make changes to the funding mechanism of racing. Using this bill, the process can be made a little faster, although it would still face one minor issue of seeking approval from both the houses of parliament, unlike the primary legislation which would not need any of this.
This bill would also need an approval from the European Union on the grounds of state aid. Though, the stakeholders in horseracing are confident that as was the case in France in 2013, where the European Union realized that the levy on online betting did not breach any rules of state aid, the same precedence would be followed in Britain.
Asked for the reaction of the govt. body to the news, the media manager of BHA, Mr. Robin Mounsey said that the horse racing betting levy is going to get discussed on Thursday and soon a response could be expected.
ABP set to continue
In the meantime, horse racing would continue with the existing framework until and unless the government approves the changes whereby the money could be made from the remote operators. Bookmakers, however, who are aware of the lobbying by the stakeholders are looking at a legal angle based on the European law.
