About us

The Gambling Commission was set up under the Gambling Act 2005 to regulate commercial gambling in Great Britain. The Gambling Act 2005 came fully into force on 1 September 2007.

We are an independent non-departmental public body (NDPB) sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

We have over 200 employees, mostly based in Birmingham. This includes over 60 compliance and enforcement managers working across Great Britain.

Our work is funded by fees, paid by the operators that we license. In addition, we receive a grant from DCMS to conduct a three yearly gambling prevalence survey.

Gambling activities we regulate

We regulate commercial gambling in Great Britain including:

Gambling activities we do not regulate

We do not regulate spread betting. This is the responsibility of the Financial Services Authority.

We do not regulate the National Lottery. This is the responsibility of the National Lottery Commission.