UKGC Interim Chief to Be Made Permanent
Reports have emerged that Andrew Rhodes, the Gambling Commission Interim Chief Executive, is to be appointed on a permanent basis.
Rhodes became interim chief executive in June 2021 following the departure of Neil McArthur. He is now expected to be appointed permanently, and his unforgiving approach to "recidivist behaviors" is thought to be a major reason for the decision.
According to reports in the UK press, Rhodes' attitudes have been well received within the UKGC and the UK Government. It is thought that Culture Minister Nadine Dorries will confirm his appointment very soon. He will reportedly earn a salary of £150,000.
If the reports prove correct, then Rhodes will oversee two important industry milestones, the government gambling review and the competition for the fourth National Lottery license.
In the past, Rhodes has worked as Director of Operations at the Department for Work and Pensions, and he was also COO at the Food Standards Agency. He has also worked as COO of Swansea University and was Chair of the Community Trust at Swansea City Football Club.
In a speech at the 2021 GambleAware conference in December, Rhodes gave some clues as to his thoughts about the industry.
In terms of our role at the Gambling Commission, our job is to permit gambling. It's to license gambling as long as that is consistent with the licensing objectives. Those objectives say that gambling must be fair and transparent, crime-free, and protect the vulnerable from harm. In an ideal world, we would have little to do beyond licensing operators, but that's not the case, and we're nowhere near that at this point in time. There is still far too much harm from gambling as a result of too little compliance amongst too many operators who are not complying with our rules.
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