Gambling companies will be forced to pay around 100 million a year to the NHS

Gambling companies will be forced to pay around €100 million a year to the NHS to fund addiction research, prevention and treatment, under government changes that will replace a long-standing system of voluntary contributions.

Under a compulsory levy, welcomed by clinicians and campaigners, bookmakers and online casinos will pay 1% of what they win from punters.

Traditional betting shops and land-based casinos, which have higher fixed costs such as rent, will pay the tax at 0.4% of their revenue.

Based on industry revenue of around $10 billion in 2022, the levy would raise $100 million, paid directly to NHS services, the government said.

The change is part of a wider plan to overhaul Britain’s gambling laws, published earlier this year.

The money will help support addiction clinics across the country. Seven new NHS centers are expected to open by the end of the year, bringing the total to 15, up from just one in 2019.

The precise design of the levy will now be the subject of an eight-week consultation. But compulsory payouts will replace the voluntary system in place since Tony Blair’s Labor government liberalized gambling laws in 2007.

The government said this meant the industry would no longer have a say in how funds intended to help drug addicts quit gambling are spent.

Under the existing deal, the industry has typically donated around 0.1% of its revenue, or less than 10 million in some years, with some operators accused of paying insultingly nominal amounts or nothing at all. .

As recently as 2019, the industry failed to reach the goal of 10 million voluntary donations to GambleAware, which was the industry’s primary donation channel until now.

Amid growing demand from campaigners, clinicians and the gambling regulator for a mandatory levy, major operators agreed in 2019 to increase their contributions.

The move has since raised $110 million, according to the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), an industry lobby group.

But the voluntary system has been tarnished by fears that the industry wields too much power over how the money is distributed. The NHS has refused to accept funding through this route.

Earlier this year, the Guardian reported that the industry’s most powerful members Bet365, Flutter Entertainment, GVC Holdings and William Hill had decided to withhold 25% of funds previously earmarked for GambleAware, opting to distribute them to selected projects by companies. .

The government said the new levy would ease concerns about the industry’s influence and increase funding to help people struggling with gambling addiction.

The regulator, the Gambling Commission, will distribute the funds raised directly to the NHS and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), which coordinates the funding. The levy will be backed by legislation forcing businesses to pay.

Gaming companies should always pay their fair share and this new statutory levy will ensure they are legally required to do so, Games Minister Stuart Andrew has said.

Will Prochaska, strategic director of Gambling With Lives, a charity that supports families bereaved by gambling-related suicide, said the tax was a significant step forward.

It is essential that sampling is a priority, he added. Many charities refusing to receive funds under current industry-funded structures may not survive if the drawdown is delayed.

The BGC said it believed the tax should also have been applied to the National Lottery, as well as its own members, which are dominated by bookmakers and casino companies.

This compulsory levy was one of a series of proposals outlined in a government white paper on overhauling gambling regulations, published in April 2023. Other measures, such as lower betting limits on machines online slots and affordability checks to avoid significant losses, are still in force. in consultation, with no decision expected before next year.