Provision Quarterly Online Tracker Survey & Quarterly Telephone Survey

The Commission exists to safeguard consumers and the wider public by ensuring that gambling is fair and safe. The Commission's strategy for 2018-212 sets out our focus and commitment in five priority areas:

• protecting the interests of consumers
• preventing harm to consumers and the public
• raising standards in the gambling market
• optimising returns to good causes from lotteries
• improving the way the Commission regulates

One of the important ways in which the Commission seeks to address the first two objectives is in relation to collecting, publishing and using the official statistics we collect to be the authoritative voice on gambling and using the data collected to influence policy to help protect gambling consumers and the public.

The gambling industry is rapidly changing; traditionally, gambling in Great Britain was only available in a small number of environments including betting shops, casinos, bingo halls and amusement arcades, however, in recent years, most types of gambling can now be engaged in remotely via the internet, smart television, and /or through smartphones. The range of activities that can be played online vary but essentially gambling is a much more widely available product now than it was 10 or 20 years previously.

With continuing changes within the industry, it is important to continue to understand how many people gamble, how they engage in gambling and their attitudes and perceptions of the industry as a whole.

To complement the online tracker, the Commission also have a quarterly telephone survey which primarily collects participation trends and rates of problem gambling.