UK Gambling Commission has released its proposal for a new three-year five-point plan that will help to further strengthen the country’s regulated gambling market.

The Commission has said it appreciated that gambling is a leisure activity, with 63% of people having gambled last year. However, it stated: “The Commission needs to balance consumer choice and enjoyment against the risks and impact gambling can have for individuals and wider society.”

The strategy contains five priority areas. The first looks at protecting the interests of consumers, including tougher and broader sanctions on operators who fail to treat customers fairly in creating a safe betting environment.

Next, the strategy looks at preventing harm to consumers and the public, by providing more information about gaming and its risks, highlighting the importance of responsible gambling.

The third focuses on raising the standards in the gambling market. And the final two points look at optimising returns to good cause from lotteries and improving the way the Commission regulates.

Gambling Commission Chair, Bill Moyes, said: “This is an ambitious strategy to deliver fairer and safer gambling over the next three years. We can only be successful in this by engaging with consumers and by working closely with all our regulatory partners and the industry.

“In the same way that this strategy challenges the industry, we also challenge ourselves, as the regulator, to deliver effective, targeted and innovative regulation.

“At the end of three years, we expect to see an industry that strives continuously to raise their standards, treat customers fairly, and protect vulnerable people.”