As the UK officially implements the "statutory levy" on gambling in 2025, Victoria Reed, founder of the gambling safety advocacy organization Better Change, warns that the substantial taxes levied on the gambling industry may not only fail to effectively mitigate gambling-related harms but could also trigger a crisis of public and industry trust due to a lack of a clear governance framework and funding mechanisms.
The statutory levy is in place, but core issues remain unresolved
According to government plans, the UK gambling industry will pay over £100 million annually to a statutory fund to support treatment, prevention, and research related to gambling, with 50% allocated to treatment services, 30% to prevention projects, and the remaining 20% supporting research development. However, after the tax takes effect (April 6, 2025), the public and industry have yet to see any clear rules for fund usage or accountability mechanisms.
"If you're a business facing a sudden 66% increase in tax burden, you deserve a reasonable explanation and detailed planning, but we currently know nothing," Reed points out.
The lessons of the RET mechanism should not be repeated
Victoria Reed founded Better Change due to concerns that many quality safety projects in the gambling industry were difficult to implement due to lack of funding. The industry's previous "voluntary donation scheme" (RET), although providing some financial support for gambling harm response, also revealed issues of lax regulation and opaque fund usage.
Organizations like GambleAware, while using these funds to establish treatment centers, support specific groups (such as women, veterans, ethnic minorities), and promote advocacy and hotline services, also faced situations where some funds were used for lobbying groups, anti-gambling activists, or even to fill financial gaps in certain charities. These practices not only violated the Gambling Commission's own guidelines but also damaged public perception of the industry's contributions.
NHS involvement and "industry hostility" will hinder fair distribution
Reed warns that the UK's public health system (NHS) has explicitly opposed cooperation with gambling industry funds, and even research institutions have referred to RET participants as "industry fellow travelers" in parliamentary hearings, a stance-based hostility that is obstructing fair and transparent project screening and fund distribution.
She notes that for many charities and research institutions focused on prevention and education, gambling industry funds are their only source of operation. "If we do not establish an objective and neutral mechanism, we will not only waste taxpayer money but also lose all the progress made in the past decade in managing gambling harms."
The actual scale of gambling harms and the "sympathy deficit"
Data shows that the rate of problem gambling among the British population is about 0.4%, which rose to 0.7% during the pandemic and then fell back to 0.2%. Although new UK gambling surveys indicate that the true number of affected individuals may be underestimated, there is currently no evidence that gambling harms are rising on a large scale.
Clinical data from GambleAware even shows that the number of treatment referrals in 2023 decreased by 25% compared to 2019. In this context, the public's sympathy for the gambling industry being heavily taxed over £100 million is already weak, and further governance deficiencies will inevitably lead to greater dissatisfaction and controversy.
Industry calls: Return regulation to rationality and transparency
Reed ultimately calls for the UK government to quickly establish a complete governance framework, clarify funding standards and accountability mechanisms, and abandon discrimination based on stance. "Gambling companies are not all shirking responsibility. We want to be part of the solution, not demonized."
In the future process of gambling governance, whether this public fund of over £100 million can truly be effective will become a key measure of whether UK gambling reform is successful.
