Wales will use their share of the new statutory gambling industry levy to reduce gambling-related harms, following a statement from the Welsh government.

After the UK Government’s intention to introduce a new levy on the gambling industry to tackle gambling harm last year, which came into effect on April 6, the UK, Scottish and Wales governments have now agreed there will be research funding available for all to tackle gambling harm.

Part of the statement read: ‘I have agreed, with my counterparts in the Scottish and UK Governments, that the research element of this funding, approximately £20m per year across Great Britain, will be overseen by UKRI as the lead research commissioner. UKRI will work closely with Welsh Government officials and Public Health Wales to ensure Wales’ interests are represented fairly and robustly.’

The levy, which is set to raise around £100m a year, will see operators will be required to make their first payments by 1 October. The funds will be allocated to research, prevention, and treatment services and Wales’ share equates to approximately £5m per year. 

With gambling harm a growing issue, NHS Wales Performance and Improvement and Public Health Wales have started to develop treatment pathways and interventions, including appropriate prevention opportunities.

As a result of the levy, GambleAware will no longer be funded in the same way and it could affect Welsh companies such as Adferiad and Ara who receive funding through that source.

However, NHS England, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government have decided to make a maximum of £11m of levy funding from the treatment allocation across all three nations to support GambleAware in 2025-26 through the transition. 

All of this is in aid of ensuring access to treatment services for problem gamblers and it has been made a priority for NHS Wales Performance and Improvement and Public Health Wales and the statement ended with a promise to return with an update in the autumn.

Figures from NHS England in late-2024 revealed that they are ‘facing an “uphill battle” with demand for gambling addiction help more than doubling since last year.

Gambling referrals were up 130% and up to 138,000 people could be problem gambling according to Gambling Commission figures, with around a further 1.3 million people engaging in either moderate or low-risk gambling – although other research estimates that this figure could be even higher.

NHS gambling service teams are made up of psychologists, therapists, psychiatrists, mental health nurses and people who have recovered from gambling addiction and the widespread changes look set to fight the rising tide of problem gamblers that has continued to develop across recent years.