All licensed operators in Great Britain will soon be forced to contribute to a £100m-per-year levy that will fund research, education and treatment of gambling-related harm, according to a new media report.
Yesterday, 25 November, The Guardian reported that the Labour government is expected to implement a proposal to scrap the existing levy system that permits casinos and bookmakers to voluntarily contribute to funds used for combatting the ill effects of gambling.
As it stands, operators are encouraged to contribute 0.1% of their respective annual gross gambling yield (GGY), while outfits who generate less than £250,000 are asked to contribute £250.
The proposal was initially raised by the previous Conservative government as an outcome of April 2023’s white paper into the Gambling Act 2005 review.
The news report went on to state how several undisclosed sources expect the new statutory levy to be announced by gambling minister Baroness Twycross at some point this week, with the levy anticipated to come into effect in April next year.
Should the new system be implemented, online operators will be obliged to pay 1% of their GGY while land-based companies will contribute 0.4%.
As under the current levy, all donations will go towards funding research, education and treatment efforts for gambling-related harm, including new NHS specialist addiction clinics and relevant charities.
The new compulsory levy is expected to raise an estimated £100m per year.
The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has previously supported a statutory levy when it was originally proposed by the Conservative government in 2023 but has wavered in its stance since.
On Monday, a spokesperson for the BGC reaffirmed its backing of the new levy but reiterated concerns surrounding the potential negative impact for land-based outfits.
“The BGC previously proposed a mandatory levy and we welcomed the government’s announcement for a new system of payments with continued independence of funding allocation,” the spokesman said.
“The BGC remains concerned that there should be a sliding scale for land-based businesses that have much higher fixed costs, such as staff and premises, and that funding for longstanding, expert providers of research, prevention and treatment services in the third sector is protected.”
Speculation that the levy could be rubber-stamped imminently comes more than four months after cross-party group Peers for Gambling Reform urged Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to implement the levy within 100 days of taking office in July, a request that went ignored.
In an open letter addressed to Starmer and signed by members of the House of Lords, the group argued: “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 [Department of Culture, Media and Sport] consultation response and to implement the levy, based on that response, in the first 100 days of the new parliament.”
In light of The Guardian’s report,EGR Global has approached the Gambling Commission for comment.
The post Report: Labour expected to confirm new mandatory levy for all operators first appeared on EGR Intel.