15Aug

Horizon Scanning: Key Dates for your Diary

15th August 2025 Ruby Duncalf 60

As the implementation of a number of the White Paper proposals continue to take effect, it is essential that licensees and stakeholders are prepared for the upcoming regulatory reforms. This blog sets out the key dates for licensees to be aware of, to avoid falling foul of the forthcoming changes to regulations.

Key dates for your diary

1 October 2025 – Statutory Levy – the first invoices for this year’s statutory levy will be issued from 1 September 2025, with payment required before 1 October 2025. The statutory levy replaces the previous “RET” payments, and is charged to all gambling licensees (if it is more than £10) at a set percentage rate applied to licensees’ regulatory returns. See our previous blog on the statutory levy here. The Gambling Commission will be issuing guidance on how to pay the levy before September.

10 October 2025 – Changes to the Financial Penalties Determination Process – updates to the Gambling Commission’s Statement of principles for determining financial penalties will come into effect on 10 October 2025, strengthening the transparency and consistency of how the Gambling Commission calculates and imposes penalties. For further details of the changes, please see our previous blog.

31 October 2025 –Updates to the RTS – updates to the remote gambling and software technical standards (“RTS”) to enact minor changes to the existing RTS wording, ‘elevating’ some parts of the implementation guidance to requirements and to introduce new requirements and implementation guidance in respect of customer led tools. These changes are summarised in our previous blog.

31 October 2025 – Transparency of Protection of Customer Funds – operators whose customer funds are ‘not protected’ in the event of insolvency must inform the customer at the point of first deposit, and actively remind them once every six months that their funds are not protected. See our previous blog on this topic here.

19 January 2026 – Socially Responsible Incentives (extended from original implementation date of 19 December 2025) – operators will need to comply with the updated requirements which we outlined in our previous blog, and include:

a ban on mixed product promotions,
a cap on wagering requirements of promotional offers to ten and
a reworded LCCP Social Responsibility Code Provision 5.1.1.

Next steps

Please get in touch with us if you have any questions about the upcoming regulatory changes and sign up to our blog to receive updates on the continued progress of the implementation of the White Paper proposals.

08Aug

Gambling Commission response to OSR review and Gambling Survey for Great Britain

8th August 2025 Ruby Duncalf 52

On 24 July 2025, the Gambling Commission published its review of the Gambling Survey for Great Britain (“GSGB”) and response to the Office for Statistic Regulation (“OSR”) report. The GSGB sets out the Gambling Commission’s official statistics on gambling behaviours in Great Britain, and in our previous blog, we reported on the OSR’s review of the GSGB and their recommendations to the Gambling Commission.

The Gambling Commission’s review reflects on the first year since the publication of the GSGB and how the data is delivering against the Gambling Commission’s aims and expectations. The paper also responds to the OSR’s assessment of the GSGB, and details plans for its ongoing development.

How the GSGB is being used

One aim of the GSGB was for it to be a source of robust data, available to be analysed and used by stakeholders. The Gambling Commission reports that between February 2024 and March 2025, a total of 5,271 users have visited the GSGB pages on the Gambling Commission’s website; the majority of those users are based in the UK, although there has been some international interest as well.

In line with the Gambling Commission’s aim to be open and transparent with GSGB data, the raw data from the GSGB was submitted to the UK Data Service and subsequently published on 19 February 2025. The Gambling Commission recognises that numerous studies and reports have been published that include GSGB data, as well as the GSGB playing “an important role in contributing to policy developments relating to gambling”, including a Parliamentary debate on gambling harms in February 2025.

Response to OSR’s assessment of the GSGB

As discussed in our previous blog, the Gambling Commission asked the OSR to review the GSGB against its standards in the Code of Practice for Statistics. The Gambling Commission addressed the recommendations of the OSR, setting out progress made to date and future intended actions:

Actions in response to Professor Sturgis review

The Gambling Commission reported that since the OSR review, the National Centre for Social Research (“NCSR”), Professor Sturgis and Professor Kuha of the London School of Economics and Political Science have been commissioned to undertake experimental research to implement the recommendations in Professor Sturgis’ independent assessment of the GSGB, published in February 2025. The experimental research is due to be published in Summer 2025 with the second GSGB report scheduled to be published on 2 October 2025, to allow time for feedback to be incorporated into the report.

The survey improvement plan has also been updated to explain that the Gambling Commission will be able to benchmark results from the GSGB against the 2024 Health Survey for England (“HSE”) (once published) and against the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (“APMS”) which was published in June 2025.

Quality assurance

The Gambling Commission sets out that the GSGB data undergoes quality assurance by the NCSR followed by further quality assurance undertaken by the Gambling Commission, as detailed on its website.

The Gambling Commission will shortly be publishing a new research governance framework, which will underpin quality assurance and research quality, and notes the importance of validating data against other sources; for example the GSGB Annual Report 2023 included, for the first time, data on suicidal ideation/attempts and if they were related to gambling, which was validated against the data in the APMS.

The Gambling Commission will update the GSGB technical report to include a section on data validation by October 2025.

Supporting appropriate use

The Gambling Commission has been monitoring the use of GSGB data, and notes that there have been some common mistakes. Within statistical releases, the Gambling Commission will make it clearer to users that the GSGB produces estimates and these estimates are subject to potential biases; also that the negative consequences of gambling may be overestimated.

Based on early feedback from the OSR of the existing GSGB guidance, the Gambling Commission updated its guidance on using statistics from the GSGB in February 2025 to explain what statistics can and cannot be used for, and why. The Gambling Commission also intends to make it easier for users to find this guidance, and adding links to the guidance from the statistical landing pages and the Excel data tables shall be standard practice going forward.

Coherence and comparability

In its guidance, the Gambling Commission cautions against comparing GSGB data against the data from previous surveys, due to differences in study methodology, but acknowledges that such comparisons are nevertheless useful. It notes that the publication of the next APMS and HSE and further recommendations from the Professor Sturgis review (see 1 above) will provide further opportunities to investigate the coherence and comparability of GSGB statistics.

The Gambling Commission will be publishing a new evidence roadmaps framework, together with its research governance framework, scheduled for September 2025.

Engagement and communication

The OSR recommended that the Gambling Commission should implement a user engagement strategy. The Gambling Commission reported on the transition from the previous stakeholder engagement groups into the GSGB Statistics User Group, to enhance communication and engagement with users of the GSGB and allow the exchange of views, ideas and information between users and the Gambling Commission, share research findings and inform the continued development of the GSGB.

Following feedback from the OSR, a dedicated email address has been set up to receive feedback or queries in relation to the GSGB ([email protected]). The Gambling Commission encourages users to get in touch via the dedicated email address, or to provide ongoing feedback via a feedback form or by joining the GSGB Statistics Users Group.

The Gambling Commission also appended to the paper their communications strategy for the ongoing publication of statistics from GSGB.

Accessibility and usability

The Gambling Commission will continue to publish data from the GSGB in a variety of formats accessible on the Gambling Commission’s website, and to the UK Data Service so other researchers can access it. From October 2025, hyperlinks will be incorporated from the contents page to the relevant table of data.

Other post launch GSGB development work

Whilst reviewing the content for the 2025 GSGB questionnaire, the Gambling Commission has added questions on the following topics:

Consumer trust in gambling.
Unlicensed gambling.
Bingo, to understand the locations in which bingo is played in person.
Whether respondents have registered with GAMSTOP.

Next steps

We encourage readers to read the Gambling Commission’s full response to the OSR’s review of the GSGB ahead of the second annual report due to be published in October 2025. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions on the GSGB and sign up to our blog to receive updates on the ongoing development of the GSGB.

08Aug

White Paper Series: Gambling Commission update on the new gambling promotion rules

8th August 2025 Tiffany Babayemi 54

On 24 July 2025, the Gambling Commission announced that the changes aimed at increasing the safety and simplicity of consumer promotional offers, originally due to come into force on 19 December 2025, will be pushed back by a month and will take effect on 19 January 2026.

What are the new rules?

In our previous blog, we outlined the key changes, which include:

Mixed product promotion ban.

Bonus wagering requirements being limited to 10.

Rewording the Rewards and Bonuses section of the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (“LCCP”) regarding Social Responsibility Code 5.1.1 (Rewards and Bonuses).

These changes are part of the Gambling Commission’s response to the Autumn 2023 Consultation and are in line with the commitments within the White Paper.

The reason for this delay in implementation is to allow the gambling industry more time to prepare for the changes, and is in response to an industry request.

Next steps

Licensees should be aware that these changes will now come into force on 19 January 2026. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions about these upcoming changes.

06Aug

White Paper Series: Gambling Commission guidance on legislative changes to the non-remote casino sector

6th August 2025 Francesca Burnett-Hall 50

On 29 July 2025, the Gambling Commission published its guidance on the legislative changes relevant to the non-remote casino sector (the “Guidance”). In this blog, we outline the changes, the Gambling Commission’s licensing guidance for operators and local licensing authorities, and how these changes will affect the content of the Gambling Commission’s Guidance to Lic ensing Authorities.

Background

In April 2023, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (“DCMS”) published a white paper, High stakes: gambling reform for the digital age (the “White Paper”). A key part of the White Paper proposals was a series of measures relating to the land-based casino sector, which would allow casinos that were already operating when the Gambling Act 2005 (the “2005 Act”) came into force – known as “converted casinos” – to access new entitlements if certain conditions were met.

Statutory Instruments

The following statutory instruments (effective from 22 July 2025) have been introduced to deliver the proposed changes for casino licensed premises:

The Gambling Act 2005 (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional Provisions) (Amendment) Order 2025 (the “No. 6 Amendment Order”)

The No. 6 Amendment Order implements the following key changes:

Enables a converted casino premises licensee to make up to 80 gaming machines (including Category B machines) available for use by reference to a sliding scale where the gambling area in the casino is no less than 280m² and the number of gaming machines does not exceed 5 times the number of gaming tables used, or available to be used, in that casino. Any converted casinos which exercise their right to these entitlements will be known as “extended converted casinos”.
Restricts the number of gaming machines that can be made available when two or more casinos are “connected” (at the same location or immediately adjacent to each other). Where casinos are so connected, the maximum number of gaming machines that may be made available across all of those casinos, taken together, is 80. This restriction only applies to connected casinos that choose to exercise the extended entitlement.
Prevents a converted casino that takes up the new gaming machine allowances (i.e. an extended converted casino) from reverting to its previous entitlements.
Amends the definition of a gaming table for converted casinos, in line with the changes made by the Gambling Act 2005 (Gaming Tables in Casinos) (Definitions) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (see 4 below).
Allows betting in converted casino premises.

The Casinos (Gaming Machines and Mandatory Conditions) Regulations 2025 (the “Casinos Regulations”)

The Casinos Regulations set out requirements relating to the size of gambling, non-gambling and table gaming areas, and the maximum number of separate betting positions in land-based casinos that provide facilities for betting.

Extended converted casinos:

The table gaming area and non-gambling area must be no less than half the size of the gambling area, or 250m², whichever is smaller.
The gambling area must be less than 1,500m², subject to an exemption for those casinos where the gambling area was 1,500m² or greater on 12 May 2025.
A sliding scale is provided setting out the maximum number of separate betting positions permitted based on the size of the floor area of the gambling area, starting at 16 if the gambling area is less than 280m², going up to a maximum of 40 if the gambling area is 500m² or more.

Larger converted casinos (with a gambling area of no less than 200m² and which are not extended converted casinos):

The gambling area must be less than 1,500m², subject to an exemption for those casinos where the gambling area was 1,500m² or greater on 12 May 2025.
A sliding scale is provided setting out the maximum number of separate betting positions permitted based on the size of the floor area of the gambling area, starting at 16 if the gambling area is less than 280m², going up to a maximum of 40 if the gambling area is 500m² or more.

Any other converted casinos which have a gambling area of less than 280m² will be limited to a maximum of 16 separate betting positions.

The Casinos Regulations also make two changes which will benefit 2005 Act Small casinos: (1) the minimum table gaming area is reduced from 500m² to 250m²; and (2) the gaming machine to gaming table ratio is amended from 2:1 to 5:1.

The Gambling Act 2005 (Premises Licences and Provisional Statements) (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2025 (the “Premises Licence Amendment Regulations”)

The Premises Licence Amendment Regulations enable converted casinos who wish to access the extended gaming machine entitlements to apply to the relevant licensing authority to vary their premises licence, and requires that they submit a scale plan showing the location and extent of a table gaming area (in addition to the existing requirements for converted casinos to show the non-gambling and gambling areas). No other forms of gambling are permitted to take place in a table gaming area.

The Gambling Act 2005 (Gaming Tables in Casinos) (Definitions) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (the “Gaming Tables Regulations”)

The Gaming Tables Regulations amend the definition of a “gaming table” in a casino for the purposes of subsections (3) to (5) of section 172 of the 2005 Act. These subsections set out gaming machine entitlements in 2005 Act casinos with reference to a fixed numerical maximum, which is subject to a ratio of gaming machines to gaming tables. Under the new definition, only gaming tables controlled or operated by casino staff can qualify as a gaming table for the purposes of calculating gaming machine allowances.

As these four statutory instruments came into effect on 22 July 2025, any converted casino licensees that wish to exercise the new gaming machine entitlements are now able to apply to their local authority to vary their premises licences.

Licensing guidance for licensees and local authorities

Operating licences and betting

In its Guidance, the Gambling Commission has reminded converted casino licensees who wish to utilise the extended machine entitlements, or to offer betting, to consider whether they need to apply to the Gambling Commission to vary their operating licence to:

amend the fee category; and/or
amend the licensed activities being offered.

If the casino wishes to provide non-remote facilities for betting, they will need to hold a non-remote general betting (standard) operating licence. To offer self-service betting terminals (“SSBTs”), casinos will be required to apply for a remote general betting (standard) (real events) licence. It will not be possible for a casino licensee to rely on an ancillary remote betting licence, even where SSBTs are available alongside a non-remote offering, as the ancillary remote betting licence attaches to a betting premises licence, not a casino premises licence.

In addition, Small 2005 Act casinos which take advantage of the new machine to table ratio, and/or the reduced minimum table gaming area, are reminded that they will need to apply to their local licensing authority to vary their premises licence to reflect the changes to their non-gambling and gambling areas.

To assist casino licensees, the Guidance provides example scenarios outlining related licensing requirements that are triggered, and reminds any licensees wishing to utilise the extended entitlements that they should inform the Gambling Commission by submitting an LCCP notification.

Premises Licences

Converted casino licensees wishing to utilise the extended gaming machine entitlements must apply to the relevant licensing authority to vary their premises licence so the casino plan shows the location and extent of any part of the premises which will be a table gaming area.

Accordingly, the Gambling Commission will need to update its Guidance to Licensing Authorities (“GLA”), and the Guidance outlines which paragraphs of the GLA have been affected by the legislative changes. The affected sections of the GLA are to be reviewed and amended in due course.

Next steps

The full detail of the entitlements delivered by each of the instruments and any requirements and conditions attached to them are set out in the instruments and further detail can be found in the respective statutory instrument’s Explanatory Memorandum.

If you have any questions regarding these legislative changes that are now in effect, or would like assistance with varying your premises licence or operating licence, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

16Jul

Gambling Commission improvements to financial penalties determination process

16th July 2025 Ting Fung 63

The Gambling Commission confirmed last week that improvements to its process for calculating and imposing financial penalties are imminent, with all changes to come into effect on 10 October 2025.

The changes aim to strengthen the transparency and consistency of how the Gambling Commission imposes penalties. John Pierce, Director of Enforcement and Intelligence at the Gambling Commission stated that:

“The…changes will to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our enforcement work. Crucially, the new approach also encourages compliance at the earliest opportunity, supporting the protection of consumers alongside fair and proportionate outcomes for operators.”

The upcoming changes follow the Gambling Commission’s 2023 consultation on its Statement of principles for determining financial penalties (“Statement of Principles”) which will be updated to include the following changes:

providing a clear and distinct seven step process that the Gambling Commission will follow when assessing and imposing a financial penalty;
providing added clarity on the ‘disgorgement’ element of the penalty where clear consumer detriment and/or financial gain by the licensee has resulted directly from the breach;
providing transparency on how the Gambling Commission will determine the level of seriousness of the breach, which factors will be relevant, and introducing five levels of seriousness;
setting out a defined methodology for determining the starting point for the penal element of the penalty by reference to the seriousness of the breach and (in most cases) a percentage of Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) or equivalent income generated during the period of the breach;
including a methodology for addressing situations involving multiple breaches during a period; and
including a methodology for making adjustments to the penalty for aggravating and mitigating factors, deterrence and early resolution.

Further information on these changes, including the revised wording that will appear in the Gambling Commission’s Statement of Principles, is set out in its consultation response document.

Please also see our previous blog “Naughty or Nice?” – the Gambling Commission publishes its latest consultation on financial penalties and financial key event reporting.

Please get in touch with us if you have any questions.

15Jul

DCMS research report on online prize draws and competitions market study, harms and potential interventions

15th July 2025 Tiffany Babayemi 64

On 26 June 2025, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (“DCMS”) published a research report on online prize draws and competitions market study, assessment of harm and review of potential interventions (the “Report”). London Economics, a leading specialist policy and economics consultancy, was commissioned by DCMS in August 2023 to conduct research into the prize draws and competitions (“PDCs”) industry, with the view to providing DCMS with a better understanding of the PDCs market, and to inform consideration of whether any government intervention may be required in this sector and, if so, what form that intervention could take.

Purpose and objectives of the study

It is recognised that although the PDCs industry has grown rapidly in the UK in recent years, little research into this sector has been conducted to date. PDCs are similar to lotteries in that players purchase tickets to participate and prizes are awarded at least partly based on chance. However, they differ from lotteries in (at least) one of two ways: ‘prize draws’ offer a free entry route and ‘prize competitions’ have a skill element (e.g. answering a question) meaning that prizes are not allocated entirely by chance. Due to these characteristics PDCs are not regulated under the Gambling Act 2005 (unlike lotteries), meaning that they are not subject to gambling regulatory oversight.

The research was structured around three overarching questions:

What is the size and scale of the prize draws and competitions market (both demand and supply)? (Section 2 of the Report)
What evidence is there of negative consequences from these products? (Section 3 of the Report)
If any harm is identified, what would be the most effective and proportionate intervention? (Section 4 of the Report)

Section 3 reviews the evidence about whether there is any harm both gambling and non-gambling (consumer), arising from PDCs, and the impact that they have on the regulated lottery industry.

Section 4 focuses on the case for government intervention in the PDCs industry to address reducing the risk of gambling harm from PDCs, improving the integrity and transparency of PDCs, and protecting donations to charities. It suggests three interventions:

Changes to gambling regulation

The Report considers the possibility of bringing PDCs under the oversight of the Gambling Commission and the requirement for PDC operators to have a licence to operate. Doing so would mean PDC operators would be required to implement player protection and transparency obligations, including:

Minimum age for participation
Provision of self-exclusion mechanisms
Safer gambling messaging and signposting to gambling harm charities
Caps on entries and/or spend per player
Limits on promotional offers
Ban on accepting credit card payments
Provision of information to consumers on how and where proceeds are used, on how prizes are allocated and the likelihood of winning a prize
Possible limits on sizes of prizes and ticket sales

Bringing PDCs within the Gambling Commission’s remit would give the Gambling Commission an opportunity to regulate the instant win games offered by operators, and to mandate gambling duty/minimum charitable donations for PDC operators.

Greater enforcement of consumer protection rules

The Report offers an alternative option of pursuing more assertive enforcement of consumer protection rules, which could be an effective way to address consumer harm in the market for PDCs. Such an intervention could include the existing framework of rules for consumer protection, including the work done by consumer protection bodies such as the Advertising Standards Authority, which has previously taken action against potentially harmful advertising by PDC operators, for example in relation to the free entry route. Whilst this intervention method is expected to increase transparency in the market, it is noted that additional costs incurred by operators to comply with enforcement may be passed on to consumers in the form of increased prices or reduced quality.

Voluntary code of conduct

The Report suggests that the introduction of a voluntary code of conduct for operators of PDCs could be used to set industry standards for measures used to protect players from harm. Although such a code would not legally require PDC operators to implement the kinds of player protection measures that lotteries have, it may induce them to do so, especially if the alternative is direct regulation. Of the three possible interventions, this would be the quickest and least costly to implement, and of the three, was the preferred option of the PDC industry, with many PDC operators expressing an interest in being involved in a Working Group to develop such a code. However, this intervention runs the risk of having poor take-up and/or adherence, given its voluntary status.

The Report concludes that the three interventions outlined offer different strengths and weaknesses in addressing the case for intervention and carry different practical implications and different risks of negative consequences, and notes that all these considerations should inform the government’s eventual choice of intervention(s).

We encourage stakeholders to read the full Report published by the DCMS. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions about this research report or the PDCs market.

30May

White Paper Series: Gambling Commission update on Stage 2 of the financial risk assessments pilot

30th May 2025 Ting Fung 97

The Gambling Commission has provided an update on Stage 2 of its three-stage pilot of financial risk assessments (the “Pilot”) and what to expect from Stage 3. As a reminder, Stage 1 looked at a cohort of inactive customers, while Stage 2 looked at active customers (for a refresh on Stage 1 and what the Pilot entails, see our previous blog, White Paper Series: Gambling Commission update on the financial risk assessments pilot).

At each stage of the Pilot, the Gambling Commission has been testing at least one of the following success criteria, and each stage is expected to provide different results.

Frictionless part 1: What proportion of those high-spending customers checked could get a frictionless financial risk assessment if they were introduced?
Frictionless part 2: How quickly could credit reference agencies return a financial risk assessment?
Data relevance and accuracy: Is using credit reference data meaningful for understanding of an individual customer’s current or imminent overall financial risk and financial vulnerability?
Implementation issues: How could the data be presented to operators to help understand the level of financial risk or vulnerabilities associated with individual customers? How could operators build financial risk assessments into their overall customer interaction processes?

Where are they now?

Stage 2 of the Pilot is now complete and has provided more data on the potential for frictionless assessments. Stage 3 has just come to an end and reporting is taking place. This will be followed by a post-Stage 3 analysis period which will allow the Gambling Commission to further assess issues that have been raised earlier in the Pilot.

Stages 1 and 2 both tested customer accounts which had, during a set historical period, met high-spending thresholds. The account details were shared with one or more credit reference agencies which provided a financial risk assessment at the point the threshold was met. This means the Pilot is testing what financial risk indicators were present when the account met the high spending threshold. As a result, the credit reference agencies are replicating the data returns to operators as close to automated or live implementation as possible.

Stages 1 and 2 primarily informed the first success criterion on the proportions of customers that might be able to receive a frictionless check. It also gave the Gambling Commission some insights on data quality and understanding (success criterion 3) and implementation issues (success criterion 4). The emerging findings from both stages were used and are being used to inform the Gambling Commission’s approaches on Stage 3 of the Pilot and the post-Pilot analysis approach.

Findings and figures from Stage 2

Stage 2 of the Pilot comprised approximately 1.7 million financial risk assessments (an increase from Stage 1) across the three credit reference agencies in relation to approximately 860,000 accounts – although, this number is not indicative of how many accounts might be assessed if the assessments were introduced in a live environment.

Findings include:

Increased percentage of frictionless checks: Stage 2 saw an increase from 95% to 97% in the percentage of assessments that were possible in a frictionless manner (compared to the 80% estimated in the Government’s 2023 White Paper). Included in this category is the “thin file” rate. “Thin files” are where the customer could be identified but there was limited information and no adverse information. The thin file rate stayed at approximately 3% of the assessments in both Stages 1 and 2.

Reduced percentage of unmatched accounts: Approximately 3% of the assessments of active accounts (i.e. the highest spending accounts as opposed to the total number of accounts) were not matched in Stage 2, compared to 5% in Stage 1. The Gambling Commission explains that the more recent period used in Stage 2 may have contributed to a reduction in the unmatched category as the operators’ data may have been more up to date. This result was favourable compared to the 20%, who were estimated in the White Paper to not have a frictionless assessment. The unmatched category also includes the “invalid rate” (concerning issues in the operators’ data provided to credit reference agencies – such as data formatting issues, invalid data or duplications in the data provided to credit reference agencies by operators), which saw a slight reduction – albeit the rate has been less than 1% in Stages 1 and 2. Customers under 25 years of age were more likely to be unmatched than those who were 25 and over.

Percentage of frictionless assessments: The Gambling Commission used Stage 2 proportions to give a reasonable estimate of 0.1% active accounts that would be unable to receive a frictionless assessment at the consultation proposed thresholds, compared to the 0.6% estimated in the White Paper. All three credit reference agencies were conducting frictionless assessments at a minimum of 95.47% in Stage 2.

Financial risk in the customer base: Data shared from two credit reference agencies showed that customers who met the thresholds for the pilot where they conducted assessments were between twice and four times more likely to have a debt management plan, and between twice and five times more likely to have a default in the last 12 months, than the type of consumer in their comparison UK populations.

Credit reference agency variations: Whilst it is expected that the credit reference agencies would have their unique systems, operators continued to see differing results from different credit reference agencies without sufficient information to understand the reasons why there might be differing results. This will be a key focus for the post-Stage 3 analysis phase.

The next steps

The Gambling Commission is now further exploring data consistency across credit reference agencies, as well as exploring options to focus identification through financial risk assessments of the most severe financial difficulties.

It will also continue work to support operators to consider how they could support customers and emphasises that,

“Financial risk assessments are not designed to be acted on in isolation, as that would fail to balance the financial risk alongside everything else that is known about the customer.”

Data-sharing for Stage 3 of the Pilot completed on 30 April, and the Gambling Commission has moved to an analysis phase which will run into the summer period.

Please get in touch with us if you have any questions about the financial risk assessments Pilot or its findings from Stages 1 and/or 2.

See our White Paper Series for more information and updates.

19May

White Paper Series: Draft Casino Regulations and statutory instruments for non-remote casinos laid before Parliament

19th May 2025 Harris Hagan 107

On 12 May 2025, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport published its draft proposals to modernise the rules relating to machine allowances and gaming floor dimensions in land-based casinos. The Casinos (Gaming Machines and Mandatory Conditions) Regulations (“the Casinos Regulations”) have been laid in draft before Parliament and form part of a package of interlinked statutory instruments (“SI”) which were published alongside the Casinos Regulations to enable proper scrutiny of the changes to the regulatory framework.

The Statutory Instruments

Two SIs have been published, namely:

the Gambling Act 2005 (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional Provisions) (Amendment) Order (the “No. 6 Amendment Order”); and
the Gambling Act 2005 (Premises Licences and Provisional Statements) (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations (the “Premises Licences Amendment Order”).

The No. 6 Amendment Order will amend The Gambling Act 2005 (Commencement No.6 and Transitional Provisions) Order 2006 by extending the machine entitlements for converted casinos located in England and Wales so that they may make up to 80 Category B, C, or D machines available to use, as long as they meet certain criteria, including:

maintaining a gambling floor area of no less than 280m²; and
ensuring that the number of gaming machines is not more than five times the number of gaming tables which are being ‘used’. A gaming table is ‘being used’ at a particular time if it is actually being used to play a casino game, or is available to be used to play a casino game.

Only converted casinos with a gambling area of at least 500m² will be permitted the full entitlement of 80 gaming machines. For any converted casinos with a smaller gambling area, the No. 6 Amendment Order sets out a tiered scale linking the maximum number of gaming machines to the minimum gambling area. The maximum permitted number of gaming machines is reduced by 5 for every 20m² decline in minimum gambling area, from 80 gaming machines for 500m² down to a maximum of 25 gaming machines for a minimum gambling area of 280m².

Whilst the No.6 Amendment Order significantly increases machine entitlements for converted casinos, it also intends to close a loophole in the existing framework. Currently, where two (or more) converted casino premises are connected, they can effectively double (or triple etc.) their gaming machine entitlement. The No. 6 Amendment Order makes clear that for such connected converted casino premises, no more than 80 gaming machines are permitted across both premises – taken together – unless customers moving from one premises to the other have to travel through an area which is not subject to certain specified licences or permits issued under the Gambling Act 2005.

In addition, the No. 6 Amendment Order will allow betting to take place in casinos covered by a converted casino premises licence, which is currently only permitted in Gambling Act 2005 small and large casinos.

The Premises Licences Amendment Order updates the current Gambling Act 2005 (Premises Licences and Provisional Statements) Regulations 2007 so that any converted casino applying to utilise the new entitlements under the No.6 Amendment Order must submit a scale plan indicating an area for ‘table gaming’. This must identify the “location and extent of any part of the premises which will be the table gaming area” and “any other part of the premises which will be used for providing facilities for gambling in reliance on the licence.” Currently, only Gambling Act 2005 small and large casinos are required to identify a table gaming area on their plans.

The Casinos Regulations

In addition to effecting the SIs, the draft Casinos Regulations propose:

Increasing the ratio of gaming machines permitted per gaming table in Gambling Act 2005 small casinos from two per table to five per table, whilst maintaining an overall cap of 80 machines per premises.
Reducing the minimum size of the table gaming area in small casinos from 500m² to 250m².

Timing

Whilst they are currently in draft form, the SIs state that they will come into force on 22 July 2025.

If the draft Casinos Regulations are approved by both Houses, Ministers intend to make the No.6 Amendment Order prior to signing the draft Casinos Regulations.

Please let us know if you have any questions on the above and sign up to our blog to receive insight and commentary on the continued journey of the White Paper.

02May

HM Treasury Consultation: Tax Treatment of Remote Gambling

2nd May 2025 Harris Hagan 102

On 28 April 2025, HM Treasury launched a consultation on Tax Treatment of Remote Gambling (the “Tax Consultation”). The Tax Consultation aims to create a simpler, streamlined system by proposing a new, single Remote Betting & Gaming Duty which would replace the current tax regime for online operators.

Background and purpose of the Tax Consultation

Since 2014, remote gambling operators in the UK are subject to the following taxes:

General Betting Duty (“GBD”) – Due at 15% of gross profit for fixed-odds bets, totaliser bets on horse or dog races, and bets taken on betting exchanges, 10% for sports spread bets and 3% for financial spread bets.
Pool Betting Duty (“PBD”) – Due at 15% of gross profit on bets not at fixed-odds apart from those on horse and dog racing.
Remote Gaming Duty (“RGD”) – Due at 21% of gross profit and is payable on the provision of online gaming to a UK customer.

In the Tax Consultation, HM Treasury proposes to move to a single tax called Remote Betting & Gaming Duty (“RBGD”) for UK-facing remote gambling in order to harmonise the existing duties into a single rate. This tax would have in its scope betting and gaming activities offered remotely, such as online casino, bingo, and remote betting, including general and pool betting.

HM Treasury notes that “as remote gambling has matured, the distinctions in tax treatment between general betting, pool betting and remote gaming are less reflective of real-life distinctions in customer experience of the products”. Given the common features across the different forms of remote gambling, HM Treasury’s view is that “there is no longer a strong rationale to maintain this historical distinction” in the duty rates.

The Tax Consultation seeks views from stakeholders on the shape, scope, coverage, administration, and enforcement of the new proposed RBGD.

Consultation themes

The proposal of a single remote gambling tax

This chapter explains why the government is considering introducing a single RBGD and a high-level view of how the tax would operate. For instance, the government acknowledges that operators providing gambling to UK customers have limited familiarity with the UK tax system and its administration, therefore simplification is at the heart of this proposal.

As explained above, the proposal is to harmonise the current duty rates for RGD, GBD and PBD in a single rate. Should the government proceed with the RBGD, the rate will be set as part of the Budget process.

Basic framework and scope of the tax

This chapter details the proposed approach to use the existing ‘place of consumption’ (“POC”) framework. POC in this context means that a gamble or bet is subject to UK gambling duties if:

the person making the bet is a ‘UK person’;
it is made on UK premises where betting facilities are available.

This chapter also sets out the basis for calculation of taxable profits. Under the existing RGD, GBD and PBD regimes, gambling tax liability is calculated by applying the appropriate tax rate to taxable profits. Taxable profits are calculated based on stakes paid in, less prizes paid out. The government does not see the need to add unnecessary complexity by changing this and will mostly retain the current approach to establishing taxable profits (beyond the issues around freeplays, free bets and prizes discussed below).

Regarding the scope of RBGD, it is proposed that the government will be led by existing legal definitions of ‘remote’ gambling, as contained in section 154 of the Finance Act 2014, which reflect the definition of ‘remote gambling’ in section 4 of the Gambling Act 2005 and its regulatory licence structure.

Given the definition of ‘remote gambling’, all ancillary activities other than those covered by Bingo Duty, Gaming Duty or Machine Games Duty (and therefore already subject to other duties) would be in scope of RBGD. The remote betting activities of an on-course bookmaker and remote spread betting would also be activities included in RBGD. However, HM Treasury is seeking views on whether the inclusion of spread betting is appropriate, or whether alternative treatment is required.

Consistency of treatment of free bets, freeplays, and prizes

As freeplays and free bets are subject to tax-specific treatments, HM Treasury wants to test whether RBGD should adopt a common treatment for freeplays and free bets offered for all remote gambling.

Free bets

The government proposes to align the tax treatment of remote free pool bets with the treatment of free bets as stakes for GBD purposes. This means that when a customer places a free pool bet, the value of that bet would be included in the licensee’s taxable amount. Any winnings paid to UK customers from these taxable free pool bets would count as deductible expenditure in their duty calculation.

Freeplays

Currently, there is an exception for re-wagering under RGD, where only the first use of a freeplay has a notional value for the purposes of tax calculation. The introduction of RBGD provides an opportunity to consider the application of the re-wagering exception, alongside the introduction of a re-wagering cap taking effect on 19 December 2025, following the Gambling Commission’s Autumn 2023 consultation response.

The Tax Consultation welcomes suggestions for options to reform the treatment of freeplays and remove opportunities for avoidance.

Prizes

The government proposes to align the tax treatment of prizes by extending the current RGD provisions, including rules about valuation of prizes to all activities under RBGD. This would give betting providers scope for the deduction of non-money prizes and provide opportunities for innovation regarding prize offerings made to customers.

Under RBGD, it’s proposed to align the tax treatment of prizes with the approach under GBD and PBD, so that only winning prizes can be deducted.

Registration, returns and sanctions

This chapter sets out the government’s proposals for the RBGD administrative framework, including registration, remote filing, sanctions and enforcement.

To keep administrative changes for businesses to a minimum, the government intends to adopt the existing administrative framework for RBGD.

The government considers that the current sanctions available for enforcement of the tax regimes and unlicensed gambling are sufficient.

Next steps

The Tax Consultation will be open for 12 weeks, closing at 11:59pm on 21 July 2025. Responses can be submitted online, or by email to [email protected].

Please get in touch with us if you would like to discuss this matter further or require our assistance preparing responses.

28Apr

White Paper Series: The White Paper, 2 years on

28th April 2025 Jessica Wilson 113

The 27 April 2025 marks two years since the Government published its White Paper. As we reach the two-year anniversary, we take the opportunity to reflect on the last 12 months and consider what is in store for the upcoming year.

Where did we get to?

At the one-year anniversary of the White Paper, we noted in our blog that a lot of work had been done by all parties to advance the implementation of the proposals in the White Paper, particularly through the publication of numerous consultations from the Gambling Commission and Government. Whilst progress had been made, at that stage there was no clear direction of travel (until the Gambling Commission’s response to the Summer Consultation was published, just days after the one-year anniversary). Whilst the Government’s goal of implementing the main White Paper measures by summer 2024 seemed like a tight deadline – particularly for the requirements that required secondary legislation – at that time we understood that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (“DCMS”) would be publishing responses to the consultations on the statutory levy and land-based measures “in the coming weeks”. The industry was also aware that there would be a General Election in 2024, and whilst delays were anticipated, it was thought that this was unlikely to affect the final outcome of the White Paper proposals.

What happened over the last 12 months?

Momentum continued as we entered the second year since the White Paper was published, and the Gambling Commission published its response to its Summer Consultation on the 1 May 2024. Setting out the planned approach for financial vulnerability checks, remote game design, direct marketing and some land-based changes, the consultation response provided the industry with some certainty and confirmation that tangible progress was being made.

However, all activity was brought to a halt when the General Election was announced on 22 May 2024. Originally anticipated for autumn 2024, the General Election took place on 4 July 2024, resulting in a new Labour government. As the new Government was finding its feet (and was on summer recess), momentum in progressing implementation of the White Paper proposals fizzled, and the proposals that required secondary legislation and parliamentary time were put on hold. The second half of 2024 was quieter while we waited patiently for the Government to make its next move.

The Government’s original target of summer 2024 came and went, and it was not until 27 November 2024 when DCMS published its initial response to its consultation on the statutory levy, and confirmed its approach regarding stake limits for online slots (which were originally anticipated to come into effect in September 2024).

As we entered 2025, activity started to increase. The Gambling Commission launched its January 2025 consultation regarding Gaming Machine Technical Standards and Testing Strategy on 29 January 2025, published responses to the Autumn 2023 consultation on 4 February 2025 and 26 March 2025, and launched a supplementary consultation regarding the Remote Technical Standards on 6 March 2025. Additionally, on 25 February 2025, statutory instruments for online slots stake limits and the statutory levy were signed into law.

One constant over the past year is the notable lack of progress in respect of the voluntary creation of a non-statutory Gambling Ombudsman, one of the cornerstone proposals of the White Paper. The Gambling Ombudsman is intended to be an independent, free to use, non-statutory body that will handle social responsibility complaints from consumers and was due to start taking claims from summer 2024.

Key 2024 – 2025 highlights for White Paper proposals at the time of writing are:

The Gambling Commission’s response to its Summer Consultation on 1 May 2024, which set out requirements for many White Paper proposals relating to financial vulnerability checks, remote game design, direct marketing requirements, land-based age verification, and changes to requirements to hold a personal management licence.

The introduction of financial vulnerability checks on 30 August 2024. As the most controversial White Paper proposal, the introduction of such checks is a milestone for the industry. The light-touch financial vulnerability checks involving the assessment of publicly available data came into force at £500 a month to ease introduction. The trigger was reduced to £150 a month from 28 February 2025.

The passing of a Statutory Instrument on 25 February 2025, introducing the statutory levy under The Gambling Levy Regulations 2025 (“The Levy Regulations”), which came into effect on 6 April 2025. The regulations require licensees to pay a mandated levy to the Gambling Commission, unless the amount of that levy is £10 or less. The Gambling Commission published supplementary guidance on 7 April 2025.

The passing of a Statutory Instrument on 25 February 2025, under The Gambling Act (Operating Licence Conditions) (Amendments) Regulations 2025. This introduced online slots stake limits at £5 for those aged 25 and over (applicable from 9 April 2025), and £2 for those aged 18-24 years old (applicable from 21 May 2025). The Gambling Commission published supplementary guidance on 30 January 2025.

April 2024 – April 2025 timeline for the White Paper proposals

1 May 2024 – The Gambling Commission published its response to its Summer 2023 Consultation. Its response confirmed (a) the introduction of light-touch financial vulnerability checks for gambling customers with a net deposit of more than £150 a month, (b) the launch of a pilot scheme to test how enhanced financial risk assessments will work in practice, (c) new remote game design requirements to extend the requirements that already apply to slots to other online products, resulting in publication of new remote technical standards, (d) changes to direct marketing requirements obliging online gambling businesses to provide options to opt-in to product types and channels, (e) requirements for all land-based licensees to carry out age verification test-purchasing, (f) changes to the LCCP to confirm that best practice for land-based operators is “Think 25”, and (g) extension of the management roles expected to hold a personal management licence.

1 May 2024 – The Betting and Gaming Council published the Industry Voluntary Code on Customer Checks and Documentation Requests Based on Spend (the “Code”). The Code was developed jointly between members of the Betting and Gaming Council and the Gambling Commission, and is a voluntary interim scheme intended to bring “consistency across the regulated sector for operators who adopt it – until the frictionless financial risk assessments set out in the Government’s White Paper can be developed, tested and implemented”.

15 May 2024 – Progression of the Criminal Justice Bill, setting out new powers for the Gambling Commission to more effectively take action against illegal online gambling, to the report stage.

16 May 2024 – DCMS published its response to its consultation on Measures relating to the land-based gambling sector. The response outlined the proposed implementation of measures to: relax casino rules for 1968 Act casinos, increase gaming machine entitlement ratios in arcades and bingo halls, accept cashless payments on gaming machines, introduce a legal age limit of 18 for Category D slot style machines, and increase local authority fees. The majority of land-based reforms require legislation to be implemented.

1 July 2024 – Quarterly regulatory returns reporting introduced. This change was originally proposed in the Gambling Commission’s Autumn 2023 Consultation, and was confirmed in its consultation response published on 27 March 2024.

4 July 2024 – UK General Election.

25 July 2024 – The Gambling Commission published the new Gambling Survey of Great Britain (the “GSGB”), collecting data from 20,000 respondents each year and set to establish a new baseline for understanding gambling behaviour in Great Britain. The GSGB publication caused widespread concern in the industry about the accuracy and reliability of the data, that it will be misused and that it will give the new Labour government a reason to depart from what was already proposed in the White Paper, and have a longer term adverse impact on gambling policy.

30 August 2024 – Introduction of new social responsibility code provision (“SRCP”) 3.4.4, which sets out requirements for light-touch financial vulnerability checks at an initial threshold of £500 a month. The pilot for financial risk assessments was also launched and is expected to run until April 2025.

30 August 2024 – Introduction of new age-verification requirements, under SRCP 3.2.1, 3.2.3(8), 3.2.5(7) and 3.2.7(9) of the LCCP. The requirements oblige all land-based gambling licensees to conduct test purchasing and change from “Think 21” to “Think 25”.

27 November 2024 – DCMS published its initial response to the Consultation on the structure, distribution and governance of the statutory levy on gambling operators. The initial response committed to having the levy in place by summer 2025, with 50% going to the NHS, 30% to gambling harm prevention, and 20% to develop bespoke research programmes on gambling.

29 November 2024 – New requirements under licence condition 1.2.1(2) of the LCCP introduced. The requirements extend the ‘specified management offices’ to include the Chair of the Board, money laundering compliance officer and money laundering reporting officer, and confirm that the individual responsible for the overall management and direction of the licensee’s business or affairs is likely to be the CEO, Managing Director or equivalent. Holders of specified management offices are required to hold a personal management licence (“PML”).

5 December 2024 – DCMS announced its Gambling Act Review evaluation plan. DCMS expect the evaluation to be reported in 2026.

17 January 2025 – The revised Remote gambling and software technical standards (RTS) came into force extending the requirements that apply to slots to other online products.

29 January 2025 – The Gambling Commission launched its January 2025 consultation which sets out proposed changes to the Gaming Machine Technical Standards, the Gaming Machine Testing Strategy, and the LCCP. The proposals relate to consolidating and updating the existing 12 gaming machine technical standards into a single standard, and introducing five new standards, a licence condition and social responsibility code provision in respect of safe use of gaming machines. The consultation closes on 20 May 2025 and is a serious cause for concern for the land-based industry. We would encourage clients to respond and provide evidence as to: the disproportionate cost of the proposals and the adverse impact upon business relative to any reduction of gambling harm, whether the proposals are even necessary given existing safer gambling measures in their venues, and the huge impact on the enjoyment of gaming machines by the overwhelming majority of consumers.

30 January 2025 – The Gambling Commission published its online slots stake limit guidance on the Statutory Instrument, which clarifies the stake limits and implementation dates, and provides example scenarios.

4 February 2025 – The Gambling Commission published its response to its Autumn 2023 consultation. Its response confirmed (a) new requirements for customer led tools to give consumers more effective ways to manage their gambling by making it easier to set and maintain deposit limits on their online accounts, (b) the requirement that operators whose customer funds are ‘not protected’ in the event of insolvency must actively remind customers once every six months that their funds are not protected, and (c) the removal of the requirement to make annual financial contributions to a list of research, prevention and treatment organisations to pave the way for the new statutory levy by 31 March 2025.

10 February 2025 – The Gambling Commission published an update on the financial risk assessment pilot, which outlined the findings from Stage 1 of the three-stage pilot, identified the issues relating to data quality and implementation, and explained what can be expected with Stages 2 and 3.

25 February 2025 –Statutory Instrument, The Gambling Act 2005 (Operating Licence Conditions) (Amendment) Regulations 2025, signed into law, adding a new licence condition to all remote casino operating licences which introduces a maximum stake limit for online slots games in Great Britain. The total amount which an individual may stake in relation to any game cycle may not exceed (a) £2, where the individual is less than 25 years old, and (b) £5, where the individual is 25 years old or over.

25 February 2025 –Statutory Instrument, The Levy Regulations, signed into law, requiring all operating licence holders in Great Britain to pay a mandated levy to the Gambling Commission. The Levy Regulations came into force on 6 April 2025.

28 February 2025 – The requirement set out in SRCP 3.4.4(7) of the LCCP for financial vulnerability checks at £500 a month reduced to £150 a month, as set out in SRCP 3.4.4(6).

6 March 2025 – The Gambling Commission launched a supplementary consultation setting out its proposals for clarifying the definition of financial limits in the Remote Gambling and Software Technical Standards, to ensure there is a differentiation between “deposit limits and “loss limits”. The consultation closed on 30 April 2025.

26 March 2025 – The Gambling Commission published a response to its Autumn 2023 consultation. Its response confirmed (a) a ban on operators offering mixed product promotional offers which provide bonuses on the condition the consumer plays different gambling products, such as betting and playing slots, (b) a requirement to cap the wagering requirement of promotional offers to 10, and (c) rewording SRCP 5.1.1 (Rewards and Bonuses) of the LCCP to ensure clarity of the Gambling Commission’s expectations of operators around socially responsible incentives. Requirements to come into force on 19 December 2025.

31 March 2025 – The removal of SRCP 3.1.1(2) of the LCCP requiring licensees to make annual financial contributions to a list of research, prevention and treatment organisations.

6 April 2025 – The Levy Regulations came into force. The first invoices will be issued on 1 September 2025, with payment required on or before 1 October 2025.

7 April 2025 –The Gambling Commission published its statutory levy guidance to accompany the Levy Regulations, including details of who will collect the levy, who must pay the levy, how the levy is calculated, when licensees need to pay, how to pay the levy, and the consequences of not paying the levy.

9 April 2025 – The Statutory Instrument adding a new licence condition to all remote casino operating licences which introduces a maximum stake limit for online slots games in Great Britain came into force.

What can we expect next?

Changes which will be implemented in 2025:

1 May 2025 – New direct marketing requirements come into force.
21 May 2025 – £2 stake limit for online slots for those aged 18-24 years old to come into force.
31 October 2025 – New customer led tools and requirements regarding the protection of customer funds in the event of insolvency, and further updates to RTS in relation to financial limits come into force.
19 December 2025 – New requirements for socially responsible incentives come into force.

Other areas which will likely progress in the next year at varying speeds:

Establishment of the Gambling Ombudsman.
The publication of the Gambling Commission’s response to its December 2023 Consultation, which closed on 15 March 2024, relating to the criteria for imposing a financial penalty and penalty calculation methodology, and changes to financial key event reporting.
Implementation of the new land-based measures as set out in DCMS’s consultation response of 16 May 2024.
Progress with the Criminal Justice Bill in Parliament and extension of the Gambling Commission’s powers to tackle illegal gambling.
DCMS’s consultation on Gambling Commission fees.

The second year of the White Paper saw a number of the proposals “ticked off” with their implementation having now taken place, or lined up to take place soon. The overwhelming list of proposals has shortened, and the gambling industry is now gradually transitioning to the post-White Paper era. We look forward to seeing where things stand by the time of the three-year anniversary.

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