There were fresh calls for the Government to introduce a mandatory levy on gambling firms after research by GambleAware showed bookies had fallen short of a target of £10million in voluntary donations that funds treatment and research.

In 2018/19, the data released by GambleAware showed the industry coughed up £9.6m, with some firms giving as little as £1.

Minister claims voluntary system is working

It follows comments from sports minister Mims Davies last week where she insisted the current voluntary arrangement was working, despite the fact the head of the Gambling Commission had called for a mandatory levy in his speech moments before.

Tory MP Richard Graham used a Ten-Minute Rule Motion debate in the House of Commons recently to urge the Government to review the existing system.

According to the terms of the voluntary arrangement which was agreed as part of a deal with the last Labour Government deregulated gambling in 2005, bookies said they would give 0.1% of their revenues to charity voluntarily.

GambleAware, who are the recommended recipient of the donations, came up with the £10m target, although this is still less than would be received if bookies met the agreed target.

Based on the revenue the industry currently makes - £14.4billion – if the 0.1% target was honoured, it would mean £14.4m for research, treatment and education.

Response

CARE wholeheartedly supports a mandatory levy, especially in the light of fresh evidence that the current voluntary system is just not working.

Labour MP Carolyn Harris, who is chair of the cross-parliamentary group on gambling related harms said: “We have always known that without a compulsory levy, the industry would play lip service to contributing to rehabilitation and treatment.”

Meanwhile, SNP MP Ronnie Conan who is vice chair of the same group said: “This is well below what is required to support those individuals and families affected by gambling and I believe the UK Government must now consider creating a statutory levy to ensure adequate funding is forthcoming.”

Find out more

Read the data from GambleAware here

Follow the latest news on our work around gambling policy here