GambleAware Closes After 20 Years as UK Statutory Gambling Levy Takes Over from April 1

End of an Era: GambleAware Closes as UK Moves to Statutory Gambling Levy

March 31, 2026 marks the final day of operations for GambleAware — the charity that has served as the UK's primary responsible gambling body for over two decades. From April 1, a new mandatory statutory system takes over entirely.

What Happened

GambleAware announced a managed wind-down in July 2025 following the UK government's decision to replace voluntary industry funding with a mandatory statutory levy. The levy — introduced under the Gambling Act reform programme — requires licensed operators to contribute between 0.1% and 1.1% of gross gambling yield annually, depending on sector and vertical, generating an estimated £100 million per year for gambling harm research, prevention, and treatment. From April 1, 2026, responsibility transfers to three newly appointed national commissioners covering England, Scotland, and Wales respectively. The UK government also created a Gambling Levy Transition Fund to support organisations that provided gambling harm services in March 2026 but did not receive statutory levy allocations in the initial round.

Why It Matters

The shift from voluntary to statutory funding is structurally significant. Under the old model, operators chose how much to contribute to GambleAware and other bodies — creating persistent concerns about underfunding and industry influence over research priorities. The statutory levy removes both of those tensions: contributions are mandatory, amounts are set by regulation, and allocation decisions sit with government-appointed commissioners rather than industry bodies. The result is a materially better-funded, more independent responsible gambling infrastructure — but also one that operators must budget for as a fixed operational cost.

Industry Context

The UK statutory levy model is being closely monitored by regulators in Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Australia. For operators active across multiple jurisdictions, the UK's implementation provides a concrete reference point for what mandatory responsible gambling levies look like in practice — and how they interact with broader licensing conditions and compliance obligations.