The UK government has announced annual gambling licence fees are to increase by a quarter from 1 October, following a consultation earlier this year.
The government confirmed the increases companies will pay the Gambling Commission (GC) after consulting on three options between January and March this year.
Those options were to either raise fees by 20% or 30%, or increase the cost by 20% but with a 10% bump ringfenced for “illegal markets, revenue protection and related activity”.
However, the government said that in light of the responses to the consultation, it would proceed with an entirely new option.
Downing Street had originally preferred the 20% plus 10% option. The GC had backed 30%.
The 25% increase will not apply to society lotteries, where licence fees will remain frozen.
The change will also not apply to “general betting (limited) operating licences, where the basis on which fees are set will be adjusted to a market share-based approach based on gross gambling yield rather than the number of days of operation”.
A 25% rise in the cost of personal licences, supplementary operating licences and single machine permits will also be put in place.
The changes are to be delivered after the government introduces secondary legislation.
The response from the government noted that the vast majority of respondents did not favour any increase to licence fees.
However, it was noted that if no increase was forthcoming, “the Commission would have to make significant cutbacks and deprioritise or stop work in areas that the Commission and government deems important”.
Even with the 25% jump in fees, the government has said the GC will need to “carefully prioritise” its spending plans.
It was noted that following the licence fee hike, the regulator will still need to find further savings of at least £8m over the next five years. Licence fees were last reviewed in 2021.
The GC is a quango, a non-governmental body sponsored by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport which is funded by licence fees paid the gambling industry.
Its total operating income from fees and other sources was £27.9m for the 2024 to 2025 financial year, up from £26.2m in 2023 to 2024.
A government statement read: “The government remains supportive of structural changes to the Gambling Commission’s funding framework, to enable the regulator to set licence fees.
“However primary legislation options to deliver this are currently limited. We are therefore focused on ensuring the Commission is able to meet its imminent challenges by using the current framework.”
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Secondary legislation to bring about change, as government warns that no increase would have resulted in the Gambling Commission having to make “significant cutbacks” and deprioritise or halt work in important areas
The post UK government confirms 25% jump in gambling licence fees from October first appeared on EGR Intel.