New statutory levy to tackle gambling harm – Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland

The ALLIANCE welcomes the announcement of a new statutory levy to tackle gambling harms.

The UK Government Department of Culture and Media and Sport announces a new statutory levy to raise £90 – £100 million per year to tacking gambling harm in Great Britain.

The ALLIANCE welcomes the announcement of the new statutory levy to tackle gambling harms. This is an important step in ensuring work to tackle gambling harm is both sustainably funded, and independent of the gambling industry.

The levy will be used to fund research, prevention, and treatment for gambling harms.

• Research: 20% of funding will be allocated to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to establish a Research Programme on Gambling (RPG) to fill gaps in the evidence base, increase diversity of research and support evaluation.
• Prevention: 30% of funding with be used to develop and implement a comprehensive approach to prevention and early intervention across all three nations of Great Britain.
• Treatment: 50% of funding will be allocated to NHS England, and appropriate bodies in Scotland and Wales, to commission treatment and support services, working collaboratively with the third sector.

This announcement follows on from a public consultation into views on the future structure, distribution and governance of the statutory levy for gambling operators. Read the ALLIANCE’s response here.

The recognition of the value of the third sector and people with lived experience in tackling gambling harm within the UK government’s response to this consultation is welcome. The commitment to evaluation and monitoring is also vital to ensure any levy system has a meaningful impact and reduces gambling harm in practice.

However, much of the detail regarding the implementation of the levy remains uncertain. How the funding allocated for prevention will be distributed and utilised has not yet been announced, with a further response outlining this due to be published in the coming months. Furthermore, how the levy will be implemented in Scotland and other devolved nations, is ambiguous.

The levy will come into force by April 2025. It will be collected and administered by the Gambling Commission, under the direction of the UK government and supported by representatives of Scottish and Welsh governments.

The ALLIANCE’s Scotland Reducing Gambling Harm programme looks forward to continuing to work with people and the third sector organisations to identify and amplify their views on what an independent, equitable, and sustainable funding system to tackle gambling harms in Scotland should look like.

For more information on the announcement of the statutory levy, read DCMS’ press release here, and the UK Governments full response to the levy consultation here.

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