Guidance
Advice to the Gambling Commission on a statutory levy
A paper by the Advisory Board for Safer Gambling advising the Gambling Commission on a statutory levy
Section 2: Background
The provision, promotion and participation in gambling has changed significantly in the last five years. More forms of gambling are available in Britain than ever before. The most recent survey results (England only) published by NHS Digital show that 54 percent of adults had participated in some form of gambling during the previous twelve months5. Participation of itself is not an indicator of harm, but it does increase exposure to the risks of harm to a greater number of people6,7. There is evidence that those from disadvantaged communities see gambling as a solution to debt or financial hardship8,9. This means that gambling is likely to contribute to health,income and social inequalities across Great Britain10.
Great Britain has the largest regulated market for online gambling in the world11,12,13. Online activity makes up 37 percent of total market share14, Between 2009 and 2019, operator yield from online gambling activity increased from £1billion to £5.3billion15. Since 2015, advertising spend by the industry has increased by 24 percent and 45 percent of total advertising spend is now online16. These shifts to more widely accessible markets have given rise to increased political scrutiny17 and public concern about the impact of gambling activities, particularly on children and young people. Since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak, Gambling Commission published data shows a shift towards online gambling, a trend which may persist in the longer-term18.
Finally, there have been major policy changes to the provision of treatment for gambling harms across Great Britain, with increasing recognition of gambling as a public health concern in Scotland19, Wales20 and England21. For example, in 2019, the NHS England Long Term Plan identified, for the first time, the need for an expansion of national provision of treatment for those harmed by gambling. There has been subsequent announcement of plans to create up to 14 new NHS treatment centres across England22.
Taken together, these changes require a new approach to the provision of funding for treatment, prevention and research. The current system of voluntary donations does not provide a sufficient quantity of funds upon which to develop a sustainable, integrated approach to reducing gambling harms. Addressing gambling harms as a public health concern requires a different level of investment.
References
5 Health Survey for England 2018 (opens in new tab), NHS Digital, December 2019
6 The changing epidemiology of gambling disorder and gambling related harm: public health implications, Abbott, 2020
7 Measuring the burden of gambling harm in New Zealand (opens in new tab), Browne et al, May 2017
8 Toward a public health approach for gambling-related harm: a scoping document (opens in new tab), Gillies, M, Scottish Public Health Network, August 2016
9 Gambling and public health: we need policy action to prevent harm, Wardle (opens in new tab), Reith, Langham, BMJ, May 2019
10 Psychological risk factors in disordered gambling: A descriptive systematic overview of vulnerable populations (opens in new tab), Sharman et al, 2019
11 Review of online gambling, Gambling Commission, March 2018
12 Gambling Industry Statistics, Gambling Commission, May 2020
13 Gambling regulation: problem gambling and protecting vulnerable people (opens in new tab), National Audit Office, February 2020
14 Industry statistics – April 2016 to March 2019, Gambling Commission, November 2019
15 (p.36) Gambling regulation: problem gambling and protecting vulnerable people (opens in new tab), National Audit Office, February 2020
16 Interim synthesis report – The effect of gambling marketing and advertising on children, young people and vulnerable adults (opens in new tab), Ipsos MORI, July 2019
17 Online Gambling Harm Inquiry – Interim Report, Report from the Gambling Related Harm All-Party Parliamentary Group (opens in new tab), November 2019
18 Covid-19 and its impact on gambling – what we know so far (Updated July 2020), Gambling Commission, July 2020
19 Toward a public health approach for gambling-related harm: a scoping document (opens in new tab), Gillies, M, Scottish Public Health Network, August 2016
20 Gambling as a public health issue in Wales (opens in new tab), Rogers et al, Bangor University, 2019
21 The NHS Long Term Plan (opens in new tab), NHS, January 2019 (para 2.36)
22 NHS to launch young people’s gambling addiction service (opens in new tab), NHS, June 2019
Advice to the Gambling Commission on a statutory levy: Introduction Next section
Advice to the Gambling Commission on a statutory levy: The case for change
Last updated: 18 January 2023
Show updates to this content
Following an audit the 'Gambling Industry Statistics' link has been updated.