OHID Confirms Prevention Funding Distribution From Statutory Levy

The UK’s Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) has announced the distribution of funding to prevent gambling-related harm, with charity GamCare taking the biggest share of an allocation totalling £25.4 million.

The statutory levy came into effect last April, as one of the terms from the 2023 Gambling White Paper, requiring all licensed operators to pay a percentage of their gross gambling yield to contribute towards efforts to treat and prevent gambling harm. The rate ranges from 0.1% to 1.1%, dependent on the specific gambling-related activity.

This marked a shift from the previous system of a voluntary levy, where operators would make an annual financial contribution to regulator the Gambling Commission, which would be distributed to one or more organisations which delivered or supported research.

OHID manages prevention funding and receives about 30% of the funding generated by the levy.  A total of 50% of the funds will go towards treatment and support services, and the remaining 20% of funds will go to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). Last December, the government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said the levy had raised close to £120 million so far.

How the funding is being split

OHID has split the funding among 33 successful voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector organisations, following an application process which ran from January 14 to February 6. GamCare, the founder of the National Gambling Helpline, will receive the largest amount of funding from the 33 organisations, totalling £4.04 million.

Ygam (Young Gamers and Gamblers Education Trust), a charity which offers free programmes and resources as part of its aim to build awareness about the dangers of gambling for young people, ranks second on the list of beneficiaries, with funding of £3 million.

Betknowmore UK, a charity which aims to raise awareness, deliver support services and create more understanding about gambling harms, will receive £2.99 million of funding.

Six more organisations will receive funding totals in the millions of pounds, including Citizens Advice Wokingham (£1.3 million), the Council for Voluntary Service Medway (£1.29 million), the North East Council on Addictions (£1.27 million), Gambling Harm UK (£1.25 million), BetBlocker (£1.2 million), and the Addiction Recovery Agency (£1.03 million).

GLEN unhappy about timings

The Gambling Lived Experience Network (GLEN) recently criticised the process of distributing prevention funding generated by the levy, after interested parties were given just 13 days’ notice of their funding before it was due to start being used.

The charity wrote in a LinkedIn post:

“We truly hope that all organisations in this space received at least the equivalent funding to what their previous costs were because any other situation is not a transition which protects existing support to build a better system, but a lottery where services are sacrificed without any assessment or evaluation of needs they currently address. “13 days’ notice of whether you have a future or not is hardly fair on the VCSE sector (especially when local authorities have known their funding allocation for some time).”

Transition funding announced

Last month, the DCMS announced it will make grant funding available to organisations during a transitional period for organisations moving to funding from the statutory levy from the previous voluntary funding system.

Organisations delivering the prevention or treatment of gambling harm will receive funds from the Gambling Levy Transition Fund, with funding from the DCMS covering three months from April 1.