According to reports, senior figures within the UK Government are reluctant to introduce a statutory levy that would fund gambling harms support programs and initiatives.
The proposed statutory levy on gambling operators is believed to be one of the recommendations in the long-awaited Gambling Review White Paper. This would make it a legal requirement that all operators pay a standard fee that would be used to fund problem gambling support programs. At present, this fee is voluntary.
Campaigners have lobbied for the mandatory charge and believe that a 1% levy would generate about £130 million (€145.4 million) for problem gambling programs. This is significantly more than the £34.7 million (€38.8 million) voluntarily donated to GambleAware in the year up to March 2022.
Chair of the Peers for Gambling Reform group, Lord Foster, has said that some figures within government feel that a statutory levy may be a step too far.
Speaking to PoliticsHome, he said:
“We may be wrong on this, but our understanding is that the Treasury have now indicated that they would be opposed to it. We have obviously written to the Treasury and to all the relevant people explaining why we think the Treasury are wrong.”
The Treasury have yet to comment on Lord Foster’s statement.
The UK Government’s Gambling Review White Paper has been delayed on several occasions. It was due to be published in December of 2021 and then again a few months later. The latest proposed publishing date of July 2022 was then delayed due to the upheaval within the UK government as Boris Johnson left his role as Prime Minister.
The paper is expected to be finally published in the coming weeks.
Olivia has worked as an editor and writer for major brands across multiple niches. She now focuses on the iGaming and sports betting industries.