Work on gambling harm prevention and treatment programmes funded by mandatory industry payments is underway in Wales, the country’s government has announced.
According to Sarah Murphy MS, the Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing with the Welsh Labour government, NHS Wales Performance and Improvement and Public Health Wales have already been working on treatment pathways and interventions.
The public health bodies’ work has included a focus on prevention opportunities. It is early days on the projects, however, and it is likely that they will be stepped up from October onwards when the final research, education and treatment (RET) levy payments are made.
The RET levy is one of the key measures of the Gambling Act review, a two-and-a-half year review into the 2005 Gambling Act which concluded with a White Paper published in April 2023.
The levy will see online betting and gaming firms pay 1.1% of revenue and land-based casino and betting firms pay 0.5% of revenue to support education, treatment and prevention initiatives, whether operated by the NHS or the UK’s already extensive charity sector.
The government expects to raise around £100m a year via the levy, of which £20m has been committed to research with £5m to be distributed in Wales. Murphy has clarified that UKRI, lead UK research commissioner, will ‘work closely’ with the Welsh government and Public Health Wales “to ensure Wales’ interests are represented fairly and robustly”.
“The UK government confirmed its intention to introduce a new levy on the gambling industry to tackle gambling harm last year,” Murphy said. “We strongly supported this as it is an important step to ensure work to tackle gambling harm is sustainably funded and independent of the gambling industry.”
In line with the wider remit of the UK-wide NHS to act as the main funding commissioner for the RET funds, the Welsh government has named the aforementioned Public Health Wales and NHS Wales Performance and Improvement as ‘Lead Prevention Coordinator’ and ‘Lead Treatment Coordinator’ respectively.
A parting gift for GambleAware
The decision to name the NHS the lead commissioner for RET funded-activities has been met by some scepticism, however. Firstly, GambleAware, the UK’s largest treatment charity which has for many years been the de facto commissioner of gambling treatment and prevention initiatives via yearly voluntary industry donations has been effectively unseated.
GambleAware had been one of the biggest voices in calling for a mandatory RET levy. However, the charity envisioned an RET levy that would see it retain its position as funding commissioner.
On top of this, there have also been concerns that charities which receive funding through GambleAware would be impacted by these changes. In addition, some have expressed concern that giving the NHS another weighty responsibility after years of pressure building on the service, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, may not be a good idea.
Taking note of some of these concerns, Murphy said: “One of the consequences of the UK Government’s decision to introduce a levy is that GambleAware will no longer be funded in the same way.
“I know some Welsh organisations, such as Adferiad and Ara, receive some of their funding through GambleAware to provide services to people suffering from gambling-related harm.”
To compensate, NHS England, the outgoing agency which has been overseeing the creation of the RET levy in England on behalf of the UK government, has committed to make £11m of levy funding available to support GambleAware throughout 2025/26.
This has been agreed with the Scottish and Welsh governments and so is a UK nationwide initiative. However, it is not permanent, with Murphy herself clarifying that it will only apply to the 2025/26 financial year and that it “does not represent a continued funding commitment to GambleAware”.
The Welsh government’s announcement reaffirms the role the NHS will play in the RET levy, and can serve as a reminder to the gambling industry of the RET levy’s introduction. Operators have been required to make payments from 6 April with the final deadline for said payments falling on 1 October.
