Written Statement: Gambling levy to reduce gambling-related harms in Wales

I am updating members about how the Welsh Government will use Wales’ share of the new statutory gambling industry levy to reduce gambling-related harms.

The UK Government confirmed its intention to introduce a new levy on the gambling industry to tackle gambling harm last year. We strongly supported this as it is an important step to ensure work to tackle gambling harm is sustainably funded and independent of the gambling industry. 

The levy came into effect on 6 April and is expected to raise around £100m a year. Operators will be required to make their first payments by 1 October. The funds will be allocated to research, prevention, and treatment services. Wales’ share equates to approximately £5m per year. 

I have agreed, with my counterparts in the Scottish and UK Governments, that the research element of this funding, approximately £20m per year across Great Britain, will be overseen by UKRI as the lead research commissioner. UKRI will work closely with Welsh Government officials and Public Health Wales to ensure Wales’ interests are represented fairly and robustly. 

The first major opportunities under the research strand were announced by UKRI on 26 June: UKRI Gambling Harms Research Coordination Centre (GHRCC) – UKRI/ Gambling harms research and innovation partnerships – UKRI

In relation to prevention and treatment, I have appointed Public Health Wales as the Lead Prevention Coordinator for Wales and NHS Wales Performance and Improvement as the Lead Treatment Coordinator for Wales. Each organisation brings appropriate expertise and authority to lead these vital areas of work. 

To ensure transparency and accountability around the levy, the UK Government has established a Gambling Levy Programme Board for the UK, Scottish and Welsh governments to monitor the health and impact of the levy system and an advisory group structure to provide informal advice to lead commissioning bodies for each of the three funding streams. Ministers from UK, Scottish and Welsh governments will attend the board annually, with ongoing representation at quarterly meetings by senior officials. 

NHS Wales Performance and Improvement and Public Health Wales have started to develop treatment pathways and interventions, including appropriate prevention opportunities.

One of the consequences of the UK Government’s decision to introduce a levy is that GambleAware will no longer be funded in the same way. I know some Welsh organisations, such as Adferiad and Ara, receive some of their funding through GambleAware to provide services to people suffering from gambling-related harm. 

NHS England, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government have decided to make a maximum of £11m of levy funding from the treatment allocation across all three nations to support GambleAware in 2025-26 through the transition. 

This transitional funding for GambleAware from the levy will only apply this financial year to ensure system stability. It does not represent a continued funding commitment to GambleAware.

It will, however, help to reduce disruption to the National Gambling Support Network (NGSN) and ensure access to treatment services continues while the commissioning leads put in place new arrangements. This will be a priority for NHS Wales Performance and Improvement and Public Health Wales.

I will provide a further update to Members in the autumn.