Statutory Levy Chaos Threatens UK Gambling Harm Support Network

At a briefing organised by NHS England and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), providers were told that the levy funds would start to be dispensed in October.

However, over a month after operators paid the statutory levy, providers are still waiting for concrete information about the next steps. Many now anticipate that the funds will not be distributed until the new year at the earliest.

Smaller organisations such as Alerts Group have already deactivated, frontline treatment organisations were forced to cut fundamental services and make redundancies, while other institutions have almost depleted their reserves.

Partner at Regulus Partners, Dan Waugh said, “The levy has only ever really been about two things — money and power. The government has effectively made harm prevention and treatment charities dependent on the state by replacing a system of quasi-voluntary donations with a tax; and has then given control of the cash to self-interested state bodies.

“We now have a wide range of organisations kicking, elbowing and pulling hair — figuratively speaking — in order to get hold of some of the money. It is an all-too-predictable mess.”

A Government spokesperson said, “The government is fully committed to reducing and preventing gambling-related harms and supporting those at risk, and to ensuring a smooth transition to the new statutory levy system.

“We have allocated a portion of statutory levy funding to enable this, ensuring people in need can continue to access treatment services, while new commissioning leads implement future arrangements.

“NHS England, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities and the appropriate bodies in Scotland and Wales will be responsible for future funding decisions on treatment and prevention under the levy, and will continue to engage with stakeholders on this.”

In July 2023, the government announced that GambleAware would be given £32.8 million to alleviate the inevitable funding gap between the old and new regimes, known as the System Stabilisation Fund.

However, there have been complaints about the inadequately handled roll-out.

Zoë Osmond OBE, chief executive of GambleAware, spurned allegations of improper fund use. She said, “Our priority is to ensure a safe and smooth transfer to the statutory commissioning system to be completed by March 2026. We have and continue to have in place robust commissioning processes that are strategic, evidence-led and include the input of lived experience.

“In the case of the System Stabilisation Fund, all available funding has been used to help stabilise the system including the National Gambling Support Network (NGSN) during the transition period from a voluntary to a statutory levy system.

“The government and Gambling Commission support our work and are sighted on the allocation of funding to maintain the system until the levy is fully in place. We strongly rebut any suggestions or comments otherwise.”

UK players seeking help for gambling-related issues should rest assured that there are still ample responsible gambling resources available.