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The UK’s most prominent gambling charity GambleAware has announced it will close as a result of the new mandatory responsible gambling levy, raising questions about the future of funding for addiction treatment and the potential politicisation of research.
GambleAware has announced that it will wind up operations by March 2026, after most of the voluntary funding it received from the gambling industry was redirected to the government via the new statutory levy.
Under the terms of the levy, most licensed gambling firms are required to pay between 0.1 and 1.1 percent of their gross gambling yield to the government, which will then split the money between treatment, prevention and research.
“The introduction of the new statutory levy and the appointment of the three new commissioners for gambling harms research, prevention and treatment means that, as expected, the work historically delivered by GambleAware will now transition to the UK government and new commissioners across England, Scotland and Wales,” said Andy Boucher, chair of trustees at GambleAware.
“We welcome this new era in which gambling harms are recognised alongside other public health issues and are funded through a statutory levy,” he said.
GambleAware’s presence as a funding centre for addiction treatment charities and its role in commissioning influential research into British gambling has been huge, raising concerns among the gambling industry and experts with lived experience alike about how the government will live up to this legacy.
There are particular fears from the industry that it will be completely shut out of any future research or treatment work and that the new holders of the levy purse strings will instead pursue projects that are less effective or hostile to the gambling industry.
GambleAware has faced backlash for what its critics saw as a cosy relationship with gambling companies, in particular that the research it commissioned was compromised by a desire not to upset its funders.
In April, the charity’s CEO Zoë Osmond wrote to the Health and Social Care Select Committee to defend its independence, following criticism over its links to the industry in a recent .
“The gambling industry has absolutely no input at any stage of GambleAware’s research commissioning, delivery or publication process. To be perfectly clear, we do not engage with the gambling industry to discuss or consult on any aspect of our work,” she said.
Charities Doubt Over Future
Under the new levy structure, the NHS will receive 50 percent of funds in order to manage the provision of treatment for gambling addiction across Great Britain.
Senior NHS figures have referred to the UK gambling industry as “predatory” and the organisation cut ties with GambleAware in 2022 over alleged “conflicts of interest” derived from its status as industry funded.
The NHS’s total control over treatment funding also creates major uncertainty for the many third-sector organisations that currently provide support to people struggling with gambling addiction, many of whom rely on GambleAware funding.
Charities also say they are concerned about the future of the National Gambling Support Network, a service run by GambleAware which connects those seeking help with treatment centres in their local area.
Safer gambling education charity Deal Me Out expressed dismay at the demise of GambleAware. “Whilst our organisation is not funded by GambleAware and does not deliver treatment, we are extremely concerned about commissioning of treatment services in the future,” a spokesperson said.
Minister Pledges Smooth Transition
The government has moved to reassure charities and the public that there will be no break in the availability of treatment.
“GambleAware and others across the third sector, including the National Gambling Support Network, have worked with tireless commitment over the years to commission and deliver effective services for people experiencing gambling-related harm,” said gambling minister Baroness Twycross.
"As the new statutory gambling levy system comes into effect, managing a smooth and stable transition is an absolute priority, and we are taking significant steps to maintain service provision. The new levy system will build on the successes of the current system to improve and expand efforts to further understand, tackle and treat harmful gambling,” she said.
In a personal message posted on her LinkedIn page, Zoë Osmond urged the NHS not to abandon the decades of safer gambling legacy that GambleAware has created.
“As our commissioning activity winds down, we urge NHS England, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), UK Research and Innovation, and the relevant authorities in Scotland and Wales to build on the infrastructure and insights of the current system as they assume their new roles,” she said.
The new levy structure will see OHID receive 20 percent of funds to undertake gambling harm prevention projects, while the remaining 30 percent will be used by UK Research and Innovation to fund research.
