UK casinos and bookmakers will be required to pay £100m a year in levies to fund gambling research, education and treatment under government plans due to be announced later this week. It will be.
Labor is believed to be poised to rubber-stamp the previous government's proposal to abolish a voluntary system that allowed industry managers to choose how much money they would donate and which organizations would receive it to combat gambling-related harm.
The Guardian understands that the levy could be announced by Gambling Minister Baron Twycross as early as Wednesday, sources have said, and is expected to come into force from April next year.
Under the terms of the 'statutory levy', gambling companies will have to pay out 1% of their gross gambling revenue (the amount earned from UK gamblers) to support research, education and treatment purposes. You will be killed.
This would raise £109m, based on figures from the Gambling Commission which showed the industry took in £10.9bn from UK gamblers in the past 12 months.
however, Consultation regarding proposalsThe report, published last year, envisaged a lower tax rate of 0.4% for high-cost land-based operators such as high street bookmakers and casinos. The consultation also said businesses with gambling income of less than £500,000 would be excluded.
Iain Duncan-Smith, chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) of MPs investigating harm to gambling, said: “I am delighted that the statutory levy that the APPG first proposed five years ago will finally be introduced. spoke.
“For the first time, the gambling industry will be required to pay for the harm it has caused. There is still a lot of work to do, but this is a huge step forward, a huge step forward, and I wholeheartedly welcome it.”
Funds raised will go to a new NHS addictions clinic, as well as a range of small charities providing services such as education in schools and counseling for people affected by gambling-related suicide. It will be included.
One issue at issue is how much money, if any, to prevent gambling-related harm is being diverted to GambleAware, the UK's leading gambling charity. Under the current voluntary system, the charity is the largest on the list of industry funding recipients, with nearly £50 million in donations and pledges to be received between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024. received.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) is competing with GamblingAware to be the government's preferred recipient of funds collected under the statutory levy, according to people familiar with the plan.
Gambling Minister Baroness Twycross is due to speak at GambleAware's annual conference in December, which could become tense if the government removes the charity from official funding channels. There is.
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Industry group Gambling and Gambling Council said the policy supports statutory taxation, which is among the proposals in a white paper to be published by the Conservative government in April 2023.
As political support for the bill gathers steam, lobbying groups appear to have changed their minds. Brigid Symonds, former chair of the BGC, said: Written in 2022 He argued that imposing a levy on the industry would be a “backward step” and would have no impact on gambling-related harm.
On Monday, a spokesperson for the Gambling and Gambling Council said: “The BGC has previously proposed compulsory levies and we welcomed the government's announcement of a new payment system that maintains independence in the allocation of funds.
“The BGC should have a sliding scale for onshore operations, where fixed costs such as personnel and facilities are much higher, and funding for professionals who have been providing research, prevention and treatment services for many years in the third sector. “We remain concerned that it will be difficult for people to become protected.” ”
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport declined to comment.
