UK LEGAL COMMENT
Mandatory levy to fund research, prevention and treatment of gambling harm
Northridge Law’s Melanie Ellis examines the Gambling White Paper’s proposed introduction of a statutory levy to fund research, prevention and treatment of gambling-related harm.
T
he Gambling White Paper’s proposed introduction of a statutory levy to fund research, prevention and treatment (‘RPT’) of gambling-related harm has received support from a range of stakeholders but has not been without controversy. Representing the
majority of gambling operators, the Betting and Gaming Council (‘BGC’) had announced in April this year that it welcomed a mandatory levy, on the proviso that it be independent and tiered to protect land-based operators, despite having previously expressed concerns. However, on reviewing details of the proposals, the BGC’s chair has raised various criticisms, in particular the exclusion of the National Lottery from the scheme. The possibility of a statutory levy was in the minds of
legislators 20 years ago, as the power to create such a levy is built into the Gambling Act 2005. A Government consultation was not strictly needed before bringing in the levy, however a decision to consult was made on the basis that the introduction of a mandatory levy would be a significant change to the current system. In deciding to proceed with a levy, the Government
acknowledged the substantial increase in voluntary funding in recent years, particularly from the largest gambling operators. However, it rightly acknowledged that the amount of funding is not the only requirement for effective arrangements, with sufficient trust, independence and integration needed across the system. This reflects increasing concerns about the current distribution of funds, with the NHS last year refusing to accept further funds from GambleAware due to a perceived lack of independence.
Proposals for levy rates and payment The Government’s recently released consultation exercise proposes a 1% of GGY levy rate for most online operators and a 0.4% of GGY rate for most land-based operators. Exceptions include a 0.1% rate for society lotteries, land-based arcades and bingo and no levy payments due from operators with GGY under £500,000 per year. Secondary legislation for the levy will be introduced at some point in 2024, with the first payments expected to be due in the 2024/25 financial year, although the Government remains undecided on whether operators should all pay on a fixed date or pay along with their annual fee. For many operators the levy will be introduced in a staged way.
For remote operators other than the largest four, the proposed payment for the first year would be at the rate of 0.5% of GGY, rising to 0.75% in year two and 1% in year three. Non-top four land-based casinos and betting operators would pay 0.2% in year one, 0.3% in year two and 0.4% in year three. While the consultation recognises that B2B operators
(including machine, software and host providers) do not receive income directly from customer losses, the same rates as for B2C licensees are proposed with gross profits to be used as the calculation where there is no GGY. The consultation does not
28 NOVEMBER 2023
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