Figure 15: Approved Alternative Dispute Resolution Schemes for regulated sectors
UK Gambling Laws 2026 Rules Information & Guidance
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- The Gambling Commission’s statistics from May 2020 show that they represented 47% of total employment in the gambling sector.
- By contrast, Option 2(a) would likely increase the numbers of Category B cabinets in a similar proportion to Option 1, while safeguarding against the possible scenario in which Category B machines become the only cabinet gaming machines offered.
- We will legislate to increase the minimum age to play cash-payout Category D slot machines to 18 years, reinforcing The British Amusement Catering Trade Association’s (Bacta) voluntary commitment.
- For example, a Category B tablet could only be made available for use if there is one other Category C or D tablet that customers can play on in the venue.
Finally, it focuses on minimizing the negative impact of gambling on society by protecting children and other vulnerable groups from problem gambling. Second, it seeks to prevent gambling from being linked to any form of criminal activity. First, it aims to ensure that all gambling is conducted in a fair and open way. The Act established the Gambling Commission and transferred licensing responsibilities from the magistrates’ courts to local authorities and Scottish licensing boards. It is also responsible for monitoring and supervising all gambling operations and can carry out inspections and inquiries.
Figure 15: Approved Alternative Dispute Resolution Schemes for regulated sectors
The equalising of these machine types may come at significant costs for some businesses. Bacta have argued, however, that the benefits to operators would not be as substantial as those outlined in Option 1. A 50/50 ratio based on device types would therefore be likely to have a positive impact, allowing them to remove a number of energy intensive Category C cabinets. Data provided by the Bingo Association, based on 60 percent of bingo halls, indicates that the number of Category B to Category C and D cabinets would remain largely unchanged from the current 80/20 regime. Data provided by industry indicates that this option would achieve to a limited extent the objective of ensuring commercial flexibility.
The Behavioural Insights Team’s response to the consultation recommended that voluntary limits that are strongly encouraged are used over mandatory limits as the evidence of the impact of the latter is limited. The cooling-off period was also longer than industry submissions, with several respondents stating it should be 60 seconds or more. Respondents from the pub sector were in favour of voluntary limits over the mandatory limits but stated that if they were imposed, they should be consistent across the industry. The government’s preference is for a 30 second minimum cooling-off period, but we would be content with a longer minimum time period if evidence provided in response to the Gambling Commission’s consultation suggests that longer is needed in order to protect players.
Land-based gambling
A more substantial role for the Commission in directly commissioning research to inform its regulatory role will also produce further progress in building the evidence base around gambling, supporting our understanding of gambling-related harms and ways to prevent them. Online members of BGC offered to pay 1% of GGY, matching the commitment of the four biggest operators in 2019, and land-based casinos to pay 0.4%. A licence condition requires operators to make an annual financial contribution to one or more organisations which deliver or support research into the prevention and treatment of gambling-related harms, harm prevention approaches, or treatment for those harmed by gambling. Increasing the amount of data that the Commission collects from operators will improve its capability to regulate the gambling industry in a modern way and will allow it to identify compliance issues at an earlier stage. Unlicensed sites can pose a variety of risks to customers, including allowing access to those who have self-excluded from gambling through GAMSTOP. The Commission will build on the expansion of datasets it collects from operators for regulatory purposes to develop a rich resource that will strengthen the evidence base on gambling and inform data-led regulatory action.
However, PHE reports that harmful gambling is more prevalent in people who are unemployed and living in more deprived areas. According to NatCen’s Patterns of Play dataset, gambling participation is roughly evenly distributed across the different deciles of the Index of Multiple Deprivation. Therefore, to calculate the income drop for both media and sponsorship, we have estimated knock-on impacts from financial risk protections (assuming that income which is either not from Great Britain or not online will remain constant). We have estimated impacts from our online financial risk protections on horse racing using the assumptions outlined below. In particular, the racing industry has expressed concern about the impact of financial risk checks on levy income.
The vast majority of responses came from industry representatives and local authorities, however, we also received a small number of responses from academics and individuals with lived experience of gambling-related harm. The evidence generated was diverse and was indicative of the varied positions of stakeholders, primarily arcade and bingo operators and licensing authorities. In making this recommendation we recognise the potential advantages that 1968 Act casinos may have over Small 2005 Act casinos that elect to move to the new regime, in terms of Schedule 9 payments and the portability of licences. This will help ensure that operators are operating within the regulations and enable licensing authorities to undertake appropriate licence checks.
Although millions of people gamble safely every single day, the evidence shows that there is a significantly higher problem gambling rate for online slot games. The evidence also points to a stronger link between gambling related harm and suicide among young adults. To counter the increased risk of significant harm and life-changing losses from online slot games, the Government will introduce a £5 stake limit for adults aged 25 and over.
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Such checks include providing proof of income for large deposits, affordability checks and answering questionnaires about how gambling affects their daily life. To realize this, bookmakers are required to ensure that online wagering promotions are not aired to minors. The Committee of Advertising Practice, which is responsible for penning advertising codes in the UK, announced new rules aimed at protecting children under the age of 18 from content promoting gambling. By 2013, the UK media regulator Ofcom reported that this approach had led to a seven-fold increase in the number of gambling ads that were aired on the TV. According to The Guardian, the industry actively encourages VIPs to gamble more by providing them with free gifts. Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of NHS England, pointed out in 2019 that the industry spends £1.5 billion a year on marketing but under £10 million to picking up the health consequences.
Checks will happen in the background against information already available online, so those who are checked will not notice. Betting companies will be required to conduct seamless player protection checks on the highest spending gamblers to check they’re not incurring harmful losses. A new stake limit for online slots will be introduced with the default maximum stake of between £2 and £15 per spin, subject to consultation. The rate will be subject to further consultation, which will take into account factors such as business size, operating costs and problem gambling rates.
From the early days of underground gambling dens to the modern era of licensed casinos, the UK has witnessed significant changes in the way casinos are regulated and operated. The ban took effect on 14 April 2020 and applies to nearly all online and land-based gambling establishments. Another measure aimed primarily at online operators is the ban on gambling with credit cards. All online casinos must participate in the multi-operator self-exclusion scheme GAMSTOP, the UKGC announced in January 2020.
Processing of personal data will continue to be required in order to achieve compliance with a gambling licence. Where licensees have genuine well-founded concerns about GDPR, we are committed to working with industry to get the right outcome – one that safeguards personal data whilst also promoting the licensing objectives. GDPR should not be improperly used as an excuse to avoid taking steps which enable compliance with licence conditions, promote socially responsible gambling, and promote the licensing objectives. We take the view that GDPR is not intended to prevent operators from taking steps which are necessary in the public interest, or are necessary to comply with regulatory requirements under a gambling licence.
Any fee increase must be linked to the cost to that particular local authority of carrying out its gambling functions. We recognise that the maximum for licensing authority fees has not been non gamestop casino updated since 2007, during which time inflation has inevitably reduced its value. Some have expressed a desire to do more to apply local considerations in their areas when making licensing decisions. For example, existing powers, such as local policy statements, allow licensing authorities to account for factors such as public health and crime. In England and Wales, the government sets a cap and licensing authorities have flexibility below that to set their fees.
Licensees should also consider to what extent data subject rights, such as the right to erasure and right not to be subject to automated decision-making, may not apply given the relevant lawful basisiv. Consider what personal data should be processed to achieve these outcomes2. Licensees should consider the requirements of their licence (for example, those requirements included at Annex A).
This would be in contrast to the review and potential implementation of improved verification protocols within online gambling. While app-based digital payments have been encouraging in facilitating customer verification and providing customers with increased choice in payment types, their uptake and level of transactions have been low thus far. However, completely removing the prohibition on the direct use of debit cards within the Gaming Machine (Circumstances of Use) Regulations 2007 would be ineffective in addressing the increased risk of harm from cashless payment methods. The need to future-proof the land-based gambling sector provides the rationale for change. This is because allowing people to gamble with money that they may not have exposes players to a higher risk of harm. The societal shift towards cashless payments threatens the future of gaming machine GGY.
They argued that given they are not proposing to increase the level of prize, there would be no significant changes to the maths of the gambling offer for the player, but that it would allow a more varied customer experience. They also included a proposal for an ‘entertainment with prizes’ machine game which could have a longer game time and multiple stakes, which would also not be permitted by current stake and prize limits. This review will consider the effects of any legislative change following the Gambling Act Review and, where appropriate, will consolidate the progress made so far by the industry on a voluntary basis. Apps could be helpful in bringing in safer gambling controls to cashless payments, but we acknowledge this is most likely to be one option for payment, rather than the only alternative to cash. Operators have said that they believe that apps are useful in giving customers increased choice in payment type, but are not a fix-all solution due to their low take-up.
This will avoid duplicating the earlier work on online slot design, reduce unnecessary complexity in our regulatory framework and retain flexibility for future product innovations while also efficiently curtailing harmful game design innovations. For example, online roulette shares some structural similarities with online slots in being a random number generator casino game which allows for relatively rapid, intense and repetitive play. This disparity is unlikely to be commensurate with the risk which other products, particularly some casino games, pose to consumers. While we are confident that the data-driven system of account level protections has been improved and can be improved further, we also note that it is primarily reactive; interventions are largely only triggered when at least some signs of potentially concerning gambling behaviour have been detected. This would reduce the opportunity for those experiencing gambling problems to exacerbate harm by avoiding safer gambling controls and limit the scope for potential harm to affected others.
While the evidence of a clear causative relationship is limited, there is sufficient evidence of an association between higher staking on slots and identified risks of harm to justify action on a precautionary basis as part of the wider package of protections. Finally, the operators considered in this data request all have different approaches to ascribing risk scores, so findings will vary by operator. The April 2021 data request particularly sought to understand the association between staking behaviour and harm (measured through operator assigned risk score as the best available proxy — see Figure 8 below).
Respondents were in favour of venues having to comply with all of the sliding scale requirements in order to increase their gaming machine allowances. • Any non-gambling area may consist of one or more areas within the premises. This will ensure that gaming products, such as single-player games in which the player presses a switch or button, or pulls a plunger or lever, to release a ball or set of balls cannot count towards the machine to table ratio. Therefore both wholly automated gaming tables and table games of equal chance do not attract any gaming machine allowance for the purposes of meeting the machine to table ratio.