Marcus Boyle appointed as new Chair of Gambling Commission

Press release

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has appointed Marcus Boyle as the next chair of the Gambling Commission for a term of five years.

Headshot picture of Marcus Boyle
  • Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden appoints Marcus Boyle as new chair of the gambling regulator
  • New Chair will provide fresh impetus for the Commission ahead of the Gambling Act Review White Paper

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has appointed Marcus Boyle as the next chair of the Gambling Commission for a term of five years.

Marcus joins the Commission with extensive change management experience across both public and private sector bodies. Most recently, he led the development and implementation of a major programme of reform at a public sector body, driving change based on his robust financial management and governance capabilities.

Marcus will utilise his background in finance in his new role as Gambling Commission Chair. He has been an equity partner for two leading global professional services firms including most recently at Deloitte, where he served as Board Member, Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Operating Officer. He is also Chair of the British American Drama Academy.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said:

This is an important moment for the Gambling Commission as we fulfill our manifesto commitment to undertake the first major review of gambling laws in 15 years.

New leadership will bring a new direction and focus for the Commission and I very much look forward to working with Marcus.

His expertise will be invaluable as he steers the Commission into a new era of gambling regulation fit for the digital age.

Marcus takes over from Bill Moyes who was appointed in 2017. His appointment will take effect from 5 September 2021.

​​The post is remunerated at £55,000 per annum. The appointment has been made in accordance with the Governance Code for Public Appointments. It is a requirement of the Code that political activity by those appointed is declared. Marcus Boyle has declared no such political activity.

The government is considering the role and resources of the Gambling Commission as part of its Gambling Act Review, a manifesto commitment, which will consider the need to balance the enjoyment people get from gambling with the right regulatory framework and protections.

Online restrictions and marketing are among the areas being looked at to examine in detail how gambling has changed over the past 15 years.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

  • The Gambling Act Review Call for Evidence closed on 31 March and the government intends to publish a white paper before the end of the year.
  • Marcus Boyle will hold the post of Chair of the Gambling Commission from 5 September 2021 to 4 September 2026.
  • Marcus has a track record of delivering transformational change for some of the world’s foremost organisations – both private and charitable. He served as a Board member, Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Deloitte and resigned as a Partner in November 2020. As a Consulting Partner, he supported the highest profile clients on transformation programmes, turnaround strategies, operational reviews, cost reduction initiatives and technology implementations. He also led discussions on the topic of audit reform with the various regulators and stakeholders. He is a qualified accountant.

Published 2 September 2021



Child sex offender’s sentence increased following decade of abuse

News story

Anthony Pitts has had his sentence increased following an intervention by the Solicitor General, The Rt Hon Lucy Frazer QC MP.

A child sex offender has had his sentence increased following an intervention by the Solicitor General, The Rt Hon Lucy Frazer QC MP.

Anthony Pitts, 39, sexually abused two victims repeatedly over a 10-year period. On 21 June 2021, he was convicted of 13 sexual offences and sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment at Oxford Crown Court.

Following the Court’s decision, the Solicitor General referred Pitts’ case to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme. On 2 September 2021, the Court found his sentence to be unduly lenient and increased it to 18 years’ imprisonment, followed by 1 year on licence.

After the hearing at the Court of Appeal the Solicitor General, Rt Hon Lucy Frazer QC MP, said:

I am pleased that the Court of Appeal saw fit to increase Pitts’ sentence today. His crimes were horrific and long running. His victims have suffered because of his actions, and he has shown them a complete lack of remorse or empathy. I hope today’s decision will bring them some comfort.

Published 2 September 2021



Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announces new Myanmar sanctions

  • these sanctions target a key business associate of the military junta, and his network of companies for providing financial support and arms to the military

  • this move follows sanctions on senior Myanmar military officers and their associated businesses following February’s military coup

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has announced new sanctions today against Myanmar businessman U Tay Za and his business empire Htoo Group.

Htoo Group of Companies, of which U Tay Za is the founder and chairman, is a large business network that operates across the region, which contributed funds to the 2017 Rohingya clearance operations in Rakhine. U Tay Za is associated with the military through his extensive links with the former and current junta regimes and has provided support for serious human rights violations in his role in assisting the military to procure arms.

These sanctions make clear that the UK will take concrete measures to limit the junta’s access to finance and economic resources, including by targeting business networks associated with the military regime.

Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, said:

The military junta has shown no signs of halting its brutal attack on the people of Myanmar.

Along with our partners, the UK will continue to restrict the junta’s access to finance and the supply of arms used to kill innocents, including children, and target those who support the junta’s actions.

Enforced with immediate effect, sanctions will freeze all UK assets held by Htoo Group and U Tay Za, as well as banning the business tycoon from entering the UK. Sanctions will also block others from providing funds or economic resources to both those designated.

These sanctions follow recent efforts to ensure that the supply of arms to Myanmar is halted, and follow on from the Communiqué the UK secured at the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers’ Meeting, that committed members to prevent the supply of arms and technical assistance to the military. In addition, on 18 June, the UK worked with partners to deliver a UN General Assembly Resolution which urged member states to prevent the flow of arms to Myanmar.

Under the UK’s presidency the G7 continues to call for a return to democracy, an end to the violence and the immediate adoption of the ASEAN 5-point consensus, including the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.

Links to previous Myanmar sanctions announcements:



New hospitals join pioneering study to improve prostate cancer diagnosis using AI

  • Six new NHS trusts across England will receive funding for ground-breaking trial
  • AI will be used to automatically and accurately detect prostate cancer from biopsy images
  • Largest multi-site deployment of AI in the UK

Men across England could benefit from faster diagnosis and quicker treatment of prostate cancer following the expansion of a pioneering trial of Artificial Intelligence to analyse biopsies.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men. In the UK, nearly 100,000 men undergo a prostate biopsy every year – a number expected to double in the next ten years. More than 40,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in England every year.

The technology, which has been developed by health tech company Ibex Medical Analytics, is designed to help reduce diagnostic errors and speed up diagnosis. Clinicians will compare the results of the AI analysis to current diagnosis methods, where biopsies are meticulously reviewed by a pathologist.

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Sajid Javid said:

Artificial intelligence has the potential to transform our health and care system and studies like this are vital in understanding the impact AI can make.

Cancer diagnosis and treatment has remained a top priority throughout the pandemic and I am committed to busting the backlog in cancer care.

The earlier cancer is detected the quicker it is treated leading to better outcomes for patients, so this ground-breaking work has the potential to benefit thousands of people.

Funded as part of the £140 million NHSX AI in Health and Care awards, the study will enable leading researchers to evaluate the effectiveness of the AI solution Galen™ Prostate in detecting and grading cancer in prostate biopsies using samples from 600 men over 14 months.

The funding will be used for deploying and evaluating the AI technology, with the potential for it to be adopted more widely across the health service, cutting diagnosis times and freeing up valuable clinician time.

Minister for Innovation Lord Bethell said:

I am committed to ensuring the UK becomes a leader in health technology, including through pioneering AI studies like this so our NHS and patients can benefit from better diagnosis and treatment.

Initiatives like the “AI in Health and Care” awards are accelerating the testing and evaluation of the most promising AI technologies to improve our health and care system.

The next round of funding is open now, and I look forward to seeing more trailblazing organisations like Ibex Medical Analytics demonstrate how AI can be used to revolutionise healthcare.

Matthew Gould, NHSX CEO, said:

We are currently caught between having too few pathologists and rising demand for biopsies. This technology could help, and give thousands of men with prostate cancer faster, more accurate diagnoses.

It is a prime example of how AI can help clinicians improve care for patients as we recover from the pandemic.

Professor Hashim Ahmed, chair of urology at Imperial College London and principal investigator, said:

We strongly believe that AI has the potential to enhance both quality and efficiency, which is of paramount importance as we focus on putting every patient on the path to recovery.

Ibex’s technology has demonstrated its robustness on several studies abroad and so we look forward to seeing its performance and utility firsthand in the NHS.

Joseph Mossel, CEO and co-founder of Ibex Medical Analytics, said:

This funding acknowledges the potential of AI in pathology practice and the scientific evidence and clinical utility we have demonstrated to date.

The UK is clearly on track to become a world leader in implementing AI technologies in healthcare and we look forward to cooperating with our NHS partners and introducing our AI solution into multiple pathology labs in the UK.

Dr David Snead, pathologist at University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire and director of PathLAKE, an Innovate UK funded center of excellence for AI in digital pathology and radiology said:

We are excited to participate in this important validation of Ibex’s platform. I believe that AI will forever change the pathology practice.

Pathologists will adapt and learn to utilize such tools in ways that provide better care to our patients. With initiatives such as the AI in Health and Care Award and PathLAKE, the UK is well positioned to lead this transformation.

New hospitals joining the study are:

  • Imperial College Healthcare
  • University College London
  • University Hospital of Coventry & Warwickshire
  • Chelsea and Westminster Hospital (both Chelsea and West Middlesex sites)
  • University Hospital Southampton


Eleventh UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue sees agreements on tackling climate change and boosting investment

  • $1.2bn package of public and private finance to help drive India’s green growth

  • Climate Finance Leadership Initiative India partnership launched to boost investment into sustainable infrastructure

  • Agreement to be ambitious when considering services in the upcoming trade negotiations

Ahead of the UK hosting the COP26 climate conference in November, the UK announced action to help drive India’s green growth, including a $1.2bn package of public and private investment in green projects and renewable energy.

This includes a $1bn investment from CDC, the UK’s development finance institution in green projects in India, joint investments by both governments to support companies working on innovative green tech solutions, and a new $200m private and multilateral investment into the joint Green Growth Equity Fund which invests in Indian renewable energy.

Both countries also welcomed the launch of the Climate Finance Leadership Initiative (CFLI) India partnership to mobilise private capital into sustainable infrastructure in India, including clean energy like wind and solar power and other green technologies. The partnership will be led by a group of leading financial institutions responsible for $6.2tn of assets and chaired by Michael Bloomberg, UN Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions.

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, and the Indian Minister of Finance, Nirmala Sitharaman, also agreed to be ambitious when considering services in the upcoming UK-India trade negotiations, which could open up new opportunities for UK financial firms and help more Indian companies to access finance in the City of London. Services account for 71% of UK GDP, and 54% of Indian GDP.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak said:

The UK and India already have strong ties, and today we’ve made important new agreements to boost our relationship and deliver for both our countries.

Supporting India’s green growth is a shared priority so I’m pleased that we’ve announced a $1.2bn investment package, and launched the new CFLI India partnership, to boost investment in sustainable projects in India as the UK gears up to host COP26.

With trade negotiations also coming up, our agreement to be ambitious when considering services will create new opportunities in both markets, supporting jobs and investment in the UK and India.

The UK-India economic relationship is already strong with bilateral trade of over £18bn in 2020, supporting nearly half-a-million jobs in each other’s economies. The countries have also set out an ambitious goal to double trade by 2030, including through negotiating a Free Trade Agreement.

At today’s EFD, both countries agreed to be ambitious when considering services in the upcoming UK-India trade negotiations and strengthen the financial market collaboration efforts already underway to finance growth. The UK also welcomed India’s recent decision to lift the Foreign Direct Investment cap in the insurance sector from 49% to 74% which will help British firms to take greater ownership of their operations in India.

Notes to editors

  • Earlier this year, the UK and Indian Prime Ministers launched the UK-India 2030 Roadmap, to bring our economies and people closer together over the next decade and boost cooperation in areas that matter to both countries

  • The joint statement, signed by the Chancellor and the Indian Finance Minister, is available here

  • The joint statement by Government of India, Government of UK and Climate Finance Leadership Initiative is available here