TLDR
- The BHA says the Gambling Commission’s account of Financial Risk Assessment talks left out two months of earlier outreach.
- Acting Chief Officer Sarah Gardner told a parliamentary committee that talks were offered before the July 7 announcement.
- The Racing Post reports the BHA tried to open dialogue two months before that, without a real exchange taking place.
- A BHA spokesperson says the Commission’s reply to the committee failed to acknowledge concerns about due process.
- Evidence backing the new affordability checks will not be published until autumn.
The British Horseracing Authority has questioned how the Gambling Commission handled talks over new Financial Risk Assessment rules. The group says its efforts to engage were not properly acknowledged.
Acting Chief Officer Sarah Gardner spoke to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee last week. She said the Commission had invited the BHA to talk about the new rules before they were announced on July 7.
Gardner said the BHA only replied after a follow up email. She confirmed a meeting has since been arranged between the two groups.
What the Racing Post Found
The Racing Post later reported a different version of events. It said the BHA had tried for two months to open a two way dialogue with the Commission before the announcement.
Those earlier attempts did not lead to any real exchange, according to the report. The publication said Gardner’s account to the committee left out this earlier effort.
This has raised questions about how much genuine engagement took place before the rules were announced. The gap between the two accounts is now under scrutiny.
BHA Responds Over Affordability Checks
A BHA spokesperson told the Racing Post that the Commission’s reply to the committee failed to acknowledge concerns about stakeholder engagement. The spokesperson said this also applied to due process.
The BHA says the Commission did not engage with it in the weeks before the July 7 announcement. This was despite repeated attempts by the BHA to start talks.
A freedom of information request from the Racing Post backed up this claim. It showed the BHA had sought discussions well before the decision was made public.
Industry groups have raised separate concerns about the new affordability checks. They say the Commission introduced the checks without publishing evidence to support them.
Gardner admitted that this evidence will not be released until autumn. Implementation groups are set to meet over the summer before that happens.
The BHA argues this delay undermines the process. It points out that the Commission itself admitted deciding without evidence was outside its usual practice.
The BHA spokesperson also said the Department for Culture, Media and Sport continues to delegate policymaking to what they called an unelected quango. This comment came despite the flaws now being raised in public.
It is not yet clear if the full data and methodology, due later this year, will ease the tension between the two groups. For now, the BHA maintains the Commission has not met its own standards for engagement.
The meeting between the BHA and the Commission, confirmed by Gardner, has not yet taken place. Both sides are expected to discuss the FRA process directly once it happens.
