Peers for Gambling Reform urge Labour to introduce mandatory levy within 100 days

Cross-party group Peers for Gambling Reform have called on the government to introduce the statutory levy on gambling operators within 100 days of the new parliament.

Labour won the 2024 general election with an overwhelming majority, ousting the Conservatives from Number 10 at the start of July.

Several weeks later on 17 July, the King’s Speech, which is written by the government, made no mention of gambling as one of Labour’s top-line priorities.

Under the previous government, the white paper into the Gambling Act 2005 review, published in April 2023, the Conservatives set out to implement financial risk checks trials starting in August, a path Labour appears to be following.

Another outcome of the white paper was the proposal to change the percentage operators pay to the Gambling Commission to fund the treatment and prevention of gambling-related harm.

The existing mandatory levy, which encourages gambling operators to give 0.1% of their respective annual gross gambling yield (GGY), would move to a statutory levy of 1% on online operators and 0.4% for retail betting shops and land-based casinos.

The proposal suggested that the introduction of a statutory levy would raise an estimated £100m a year, to be funnelled into the NHS via the Gambling Commission.

In an open letter addressed to the prime minister, signed by members of the House of Lords, university lecturers and gambling charities, Peers for Gambling Reform said further delay to the levy could have negative consequences.

The letter read: “It is widely understood that the statutory levy would give oversight of treatment funding to the NHS, research funding to UK research and innovation and prevention funding to the office for health improvement and disparities.

“This commitment has received support from all sides of the political debate, as well as leading NHS clinicians and academic experts.

“The gambling industry’s trade association, the Betting and Gaming Council, also welcomed the introduction of a statutory levy. However, despite the design of the statutory levy being complete, its final announcement and the passing of the necessary secondary legislation could not happen due to the general election.”

The letter continued: “There is cause for urgency; recent Gambling Commission statistics have shown record rates of industry profit and gambling activity, including for the most harmful online slots content.

“This is the highest recorded overall number of bets and spins since data collection began.

“The consequences of this are clear: a delayed levy will lead to further harm to mental health, damage communities across the country and, ultimately, will cost lives.

“We are calling on you to commit to publishing the DCMS’s consultation response and to implement the levy, based on that response, in the first 100 days of the new parliament.”