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:
- Total spending is up £20 million – a 50% jump
- Legal fees up £13 million
- Total remuneration is now £300,000 for the CEO; Deputy CEO £340,000. To do what…
- Total staff costs up nearly £4 million
- Headcount ballooned from 373 to 416
- Travel and subsistence: £246,000
- £10.5 million spent on “professional fees”, up from £9.5 million and £1.2 million on agency staff, more than double last year’s £564,000. Despite the staffing spree…
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…
