This week the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport accidentally published a consultation proposing to hike Gambling Commission licence fees for companies by 30%. An embarrassing gaffe that instantly sent the industry into meltdown…
While the quango plots a chunky fee rise for an already-battered sector (fresh from Reeves’ November tax raid – including increasing the tax rate for remote gaming from 21% to 40%), co-conspirators might ask where all that extra cash would actually go. The Commission’s latest accounts show that in just one year:
Meanwhile the leaked consultation admits the Commission still needs to find £3.2 million in efficiency savings even after slapping on a 30% fee rise. They might want to start by looking in the mirror…
Overheard by a co-conspirator in Parliament, minister Chris Bryant speaking to Tory MP Paul Holmes:
“You must be happy now that all the bastards are leaving.”