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29 July 2025 - Gambling Commission publishes land-based casino sector legislative changes guidance

The Gambling Commission has published guidance in respect of certain legislative changes relating to DCMS’s consultation on the land-based sector.

Following the consultation, DCMS has introduced changes that will allow casinos that were already operating when the Gambling Act 2005 came into force, to access a number of new entitlements if certain conditions are met.

The Commission’s guidance provides information on the overall intent of the statutory instruments, what the changes mean for operators of casino premises that intend to make use of the regulatory changes and how this process should be administered by licensing authorities when applications are received.

15 October 2025 - DCMS launches consultatin on Category D gaming machines and licensing for bingo premises

DCMS has published a consultation on proposals to make changes to stakes and prizes for Category D machines and to update the licensing framework for the bingo sector.

The proposals include:

• Creating a new category of ‘slot-style’ non-money prize machines. 
• Making changes to stakes and prizes for Category D machines. 
• Making it an offence to invite, cause or permit anyone under 18 to use ‘cash out’ slot-style Category D machines, as set out in the previous government’s response to its consultation on measures relating to the land-based sector.
• Introducing measures to create a clearer distinction between AGCs and bingo premises. The key proposal is the establishment of ‘bingo areas’, occupying a minimum proportion of venue floor space, in all licensed bingo venues. The consultation includes three options for the amount of dedicated floor space – 30%, 40% and 50%.

The consultation closes on 9 January 2026.

10 July 2025 – Gambling Commission publishes response to consultation on proposed changes related to financial penalties

The Gambling Commission has published its response to its consultation on proposed changes related to financial penalties, which closed over a year ago (in March 2024).

The Commission is set to update its Statement of principles for determining financial penalties, which details its approach to financial penalties. The changes include:

• providing a seven step process the Commission will follow when assessing and imposing a financial penalty;
• providing added clarity as to how and when the Commission will calculate the ‘disgorgement’ element of the penalty where clear consumer detriment and/or financial gain by the licensee has resulted directly from the breach;
• identifying which factors would determine the seriousness of the breach and form part of the assessment of the starting point of the penal element, as distinct from constituting aggravating or mitigating factors;
• including a defined methodology for determining the starting point for the penal element of the penalty by reference to the seriousness of the breach and a percentage of Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) or equivalent income generated during the period of the breach; 
• detailing the inclusion of society lotteries and external lottery managers in instances where it is not appropriate for the starting point of the financial penalty to be based on a percentage of GGY;
• including a defined methodology for addressing situations involving multiple breaches during a period; and
• including a defined methodology for making adjustments to the penalty for aggravating and mitigating factors, deterrence and early resolution, as distinct and separate from the process for determining the seriousness and starting point of the penal element of the penalty.

These changes will take effect on 10 October 2025.

12 March 2025 – DCMS publishes draft Statutory Instruments to enable land-based casino reforms

On 12 March 2025 The Casinos (Gaming Machines and Mandatory Conditions) Regulations (the Casino Regulations) was laid before Parliament. The regulations form part of a package of secondary legislation, along with The Gambling Act 2005 (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional Provisions) (Amendment) Order and The Gambling Act 2005 (Premises Licences and Provisional Statements) (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations, to enact the land-based casino reforms DCMS previously consulted on. All instruments are currently in draft form and subject to change.

The Casino Regulations is an affirmative statutory instrument, meaning it will require a discussion in both houses of parliament. Once approved, it will come into effect on 22 July 2025. The other two Statutory Instruments were published in draft form but not laid. As these are subject to the ‘negative procedure’, they do not require any discussion in the houses of parliament and will come into effect on 22 July (subject to the Casino Regulations being approved).

DCMS’s land-based reforms mean that 1968 Act casinos will be permitted to increase the number of their gaming machines to 80 if they meet the size requirements of a Small 2005 Act casino, and smaller 1968 Act casinos will be permitted more than 20 machines on a pro rata basis commensurate to their size. Betting will also be permitted in all casinos.

26 March 2025 – Gambling Commission publishes response to socially responsible incentives consultation

The Gambling Commission has published its response to its consultation on socially responsible incentives, which closed over a year ago (in February 2024). Social responsibility code provision 5.1.1 of the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) will be amended, with effect from 19 December 2025, to: 

• ban mixed product promotional offers (i.e. offers providing bonuses on the condition the consumer plays different products (such as betting and slots);
• cap wagering requirements to a maximum of ten times. The Commission had consulted on capping this at as low as 1, and also an outright ban on wagering requirements; and
• delete provision 5.1.1(1)(b)(i), which states “neither the value nor amount of the benefit is dependent on the customer gambling for a pre-determined length of time or with a pre-determined frequency”. The Commission has decided not to proceed with the proposed wording requiring licensees to “ensure the design and structure of the incentive does not lead to excessive intensity of gambling which may risk customers experiencing harms associated with gambling”, noting that it posed a number of issues, including the difficulty in defining the term ‘excessive intensity’.

6 March 2025 – Gambling Commission launches supplementary consultation on consumer-led deposit limits

Following on from its announcement in February 2025 regarding new requirements in respect of customer-led financial limits (which take effect from 31 October), the Gambling Commission has launched a supplementary consultation in respect of “how to achieve consistency and clarity for consumers when they choose to set deposit limits”.  Specifically, the Commission is seeking views on the following proposals to:

• revise the Remote Gambling and Software Technical Standards (RTS) relating to financial limits so that, as a minimum and default, ‘gross’ deposit limits must be offered to customers;
• ensure that the term ‘deposit limit’ is used consistently by operators: only this term is used to describe this form of limit to customers, and that the term ‘deposit limit’ is not used for other forms of limit; and
• provide increased consumer choice by amending the implementation guidance in the RTS to allow for ‘net’ limits in addition to other types of limits should the customer choose. 

10 February 2025 - Gambling Commission provides update on financial risk assessments pilot

The Gambling Commission has provided an update on the progress of the financial risk assessments pilot. The key take aways are:

• more than 530,000 assessments across three credit reference agencies were conducted for approximately 300,000 accounts from a historical annual period in this first stage;
• approximately 95 percent of assessments were matched in this stage – 92 percent for a full assessment and 3 percent as a “thin file” where there was no adverse information;
• approximately 5 percent of these assessments were not matched in this stage – 4 percent because the customer could not be identified by the credit reference agency and 1 percent because of data issues, such as duplications or invalid fields provided by the gambling operators; and
• NatCen is working as our evaluation partner on this pilot.

4 February 2025 - Gambling Commission publishes response to consultation on customer led tools, customer funds transparency, and the statutory levy

The Gambling Commission has published its response in relation to its consultation on 3 topics: (i) empowering customers to set financial limits on their gambling; (ii) improved transparency on how customer funds would be treated in the event of insolvency; and (iii) removing the requirement to make annual financial contributions to Research, Prevention and Treatment (following the introduction of the statutory levy). The Commission’s conclusions are as follows:

• Customer led tools – RTS 12 of the Remote Gambling and Software Technical Standards (RTS) will be updated to provide for the following:
  • Licensees will be required to prompt customers to set a financial limit on registration or on first deposit (rather than given the opportunity to, as per the current requirement).
  • Customers must be presented with a ‘free text’ box to set such limits (rather than, for instance, a drop down or ‘slider’). New implementation guidance is being added to RTS 12 which provides that, in order mitigate against user error, the gambling system could permit specific monetary increments for limits, such as whole pounds.
  • Limits must, as a minimum, be applied at an account level regardless of whether operators also offer limits across individual products or channels (the current requirement is that account level limits are an option). The Commission is not proceeding with the previously proposed implementation guidance that operators should determine whether customers holding multiple accounts wish to apply limits across all accounts held within the parent company.
  • Financial limit facilities must be provided via a direct link on the homepage and be clearly visible and accessible on deposit pages/screens or via a direct link on these pages or screens. Further, the gambling system must minimise the number of clicks or pages customers make in order to access financial limit facilities.
  • Limits must only be increased after a cooling-off period of at least 24 hours has elapsed (licensees where previously required to use all reasonable endeavours to procure this) and only once the customer has taken positive action at the end of the cooling off period to confirm their request.
  • Customers must be prompted to review their own account and transaction information at a minimum of six-month intervals for accounts with activity within a rolling 12-month period. Customers must be provided with facilities to set more frequent reminders to receive this statement and review their limits.
  • Financial limit-setting facilities must present setting a limit as the default choice. The gambling system must require an action by the customer in order to decline setting a limit and must prompt existing customers without limits set to review this position as a minimum on an annual basis.
• Customer funds protection transparency – Licence Condition 4.2.1 of the LCCP will be updated to provide that, where the licensee has selected a ‘not protected’ rating, it must remind the customer, once every six months, that their funds are not protected in the event of insolvency. The reminder must refer to the value of funds held for the customer. The licensee must require the customer to acknowledge receipt of the information and must not permit the customer to utilise the funds for gambling until they have done so.
• Annual financial contribution – paragraph 2 of Social Responsibility Code Provision 3.1.1 of the LCCP, which requires licensees to make an annual financial contribution to one or more organisations approved by the Commission, will be removed. This change is made in light of the upcoming introduction of the statutory levy.

The above changes will take effect on 31 October 2025, save for the change in respect of the financial contribution which will come into force to align with the introduction of the statutory levy which is scheduled by DCMS for April 2025. The Commission will notify licensees of the final in-force date once legislative processes are complete.

29 January 2025 - Gambling Commission launches consultation on gaming machine technical standards

The Gambling Commission has launched a consultation relating to the gaming machine technical standards (GMTS) and testing strategy, including proposals to:

• introduce five new standards and a social responsibility code provision designed to support and empower consumers to use gaming machines safely at every stage of the customer journey – this includes proposals on time and monetary limit setting functionality and information provision such as safer gambling messaging and the display of net position and session time;
• introduce a licence condition which will allow the Commission to effectively address instances whereby a gaming machine has been illegally manufactured, supplied, installed, adapted, maintained or repaired, or does not comply with the GMTS;
• amend three existing standards having considered industry proposals to improve customer enjoyment and gameplay: (i) adjusting the value and the number of repeats permissible on Category C gaming machines; (ii) removing the need for a 50/50 chance following a losing game on Category B gaming machines; and (iii) allowing a player to gamble a live jackpot win on all categories of gaming machine;
• consolidate the existing 12 gaming machine technical standards into a single standard, whilst amending the format to be more consistent with the Commission’s remote gambling and software technical standards (RTS) for greater clarity; and update the gaming machine technical standards and the related testing strategy to remove obsolete material (for example, in relation to initial transitional arrangements and implementation dates) and make amendments to the Category B2 gaming machine requirements to reflect the changes to maximum charges for use (reduced from £100 per game to £2 per game) in 2019.

27 November 2024 – DCMS publishes response to statutory levy consultation

DCMS has published its response to the consultation it ran in respect of the introduction of a statutory levy. In its response, DCMS confirms that the levy will be imposed, and sets out the rate of the levy as follows:

% charged on previous year Gross Gambling Yield:

• 1.1% from all online operators (excluding remote betting intermediary trading rooms, society lotteries with remote licences and External Lottery Managers)
• 1.1% from all software licences
• 0.5% from land-based casinos
• 0.5% from land-based betting
• 0.2% from on-course bookmakers
• 0.2% from Adult Gaming Centres
• 0.2% from land-based bingo
• 0.1% from Family Entertainment Centres
• 0.1% from pool betting licences
• 0.1% from all machine technical licences

% charged on proceeds retained after good causes and prizes paid out

• 0.1% from society lotteries and local authority lotteries licensed by the Gambling Commission

% charged on fees charged to society lotteries minus any prizes paid out

• 0.1% from External Lottery Managers

Those with levy payments below £10 will not be expected to pay the levy.

The levy will be introduced via secondary legislation and will apply from April 2025 (being paid by 1 October each year (from 2025/26)). Following this, the levy will be collected and administered by the Gambling Commission under the strategic direction of the UK government, replacing the current system of voluntary industry contributions. DCMS expects the levy to raise approximately £90 million to £100 million per year (based on Gambling Commission data).

11 September 2024 – Gambling Commission launch GamProtect

The Gambling Commission officially launched ‘GamProtect’ – the UK’s single customer view solution – at a launch event on 11 September 2024, after 4 years of development.

In his speech at the event, Tim Miller (the Commission’s executive director) outlined the fact that participation for licensees could move from voluntary to mandatory: ”A solution to the challenge that GamProtect seeks to meet is referenced within the 2023 White Paper. GamProtect is the best opportunity to collaborate on the solution to that challenge voluntarily. But the White Paper was clear that the options of mandating a solution would be also be considered. I think this could especially be the case if participation by operators does not increase. GamProtect is your opportunity to be ahead of the curve and shape something that could, in the future, become a requirement.”

27 August 2024 – Gambling Commission issues update to direct marketing requirements and extends implementation date

The Gambling Commission has issued a revised version of social responsibility code provision 5.1.12 – which introduces new obligations on operators in respect of obtaining consents for direct marketing – whilst pushing the implementation date for such requirements from 17 January 2025 to 1 May 2025.

The final wording of paragraph 6 of the requirement has been revised to clarify that operators are not required to deny service to existing customers who have not opted into marketing until they set their marketing preferences in line with the new requirement. Paragraph 6 now reads: “Existing customers who have not already opted out of marketing must be asked at their first log-in after commencement of this provision to confirm their marketing preferences if they have not done so already. Existing preferences can be copied over providing they match the format of this requirement”.

16 May 2024 – DCMS publishes measures relating to the land-based gambling sector

DCMS has published its responses to its consultation on the land-based gambling sector. Amongst other things, it has confirmed that:

• the number of gaming machines permitted under 1968 Act casino licences will be increased from 20 to 80 per casino;
• sports betting will be permitted in all casinos;
• the prohibition on direct debit card payments on gaming machines will be lifted; and
• the 80/20 ratio for B3 machines per category C or D machine will be replaced with a 2/1 ratio.

1 May 2024 – Gambling Commission publishes response to consultations on financial risk checks, direct marketing, remote game design rules and age verification on premises

The Gambling Commission has published its response to five consultations launched as part of the White Paper: financial risk checks; remote game design rules; direct marketing; age verification in premises; and personal management licences.

Following the response, the following steps will be taken:

• Financial risk checks: Requirements for ‘financial vulnerability checks’ to be undertaken (based on publicly available data) will be introduced from 30 August 2024. To ease the introduction of these checks they will initially come into force at a higher threshold (of £500 net deposits in a rolling 30 day period), before reducing to a lower threshold on 28 February 2025 (of £150 net deposits in a rolling 30 day period). Meanwhile, the Commission is going to run a pilot with the largest operators to test the practical issues of the introduction of “financial risk assessments” (which are more involved than financial vulnerability checks) before a final decision is made on whether and how these assessments take place. The pilot will run initially from 30 August 2024 to 31 March 2025. As part of the pilot, participating operators will need to request financial risk assessments from credit reference agencies for certain customers. Both the requirements for financial vulnerability checks and obligation for certain operators to participate in the pilot will be introduced through updates to the LCCP. In the meantime, the Betting and Gaming Council, has announced a voluntary industry-wide code that will apply. 
• Remote game design rules: various restrictions on remote game design will be introduced through amendments to the Remote Technical Standards - a 5 second speed for non-slots titles; a requirement to prohibit autoplay for all online gaming products; a prohibition on operator-led functionality which enables playing multiple simultaneous games for all casino products (bringing this in line with slots); a prohibition on the celebrations of returns less than or equal to stake; and a requirement for operators to provide the net spend and net time information that is currently required for slots for casino games (excluding peer-to-peer poker). The new game design requirements will come into force on 17 January 2025. A security audit update will also be implemented, with one new control (5.23 Information security for use of cloud services) added to the existing set. 
• Direct marketing: a new requirement (5.1.12) will be introduced to the LCCP, effective 17 January 2025, which requires licensees to provide customers (as part of the registration process) with options to opt-in to direct marketing on a per product and per channel basis. The options must cover all products and channels provided by the licensee and be set to opt-out by default.
• Age verification in premises: the current exemption from carrying out age verification test purchasing for the smallest gambling premises will be removed, with the updates to the LCCP effective as of 30 August 2024.
• Personal management licences: current LCCP licence condition 1.2.1 will be clarified to specify that the CEO, Managing Director or equivalent of each licensee is likely to be the person responsible for the “overall management and direction of the licensee’s business or affairs”, and therefore need to hold a PML. Further, 1.2.1 will be amended to specifically require that, for organisations with a Board, the person responsible for chairing the Board must hold a PML (unless they hold the position on a transient and short-term basis for individual meetings) and the person responsible for the licensee’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing function as head of that function must also hold a PML. These changes will apply from 29 November 2024.

19 April 2024 – Government response to Culture, Media and Sport Committee report on gambling regulation reform published

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee has published the Government’s response to its report on gambling regulation reform. The Committee’s report was published in December 2023 and concluded (amongst other things) that the Government should take a more precautionary approach to advertising than proposed in the White Paper (in particular calling for sports governing bodies to commit to cutting the volume of gambling adverts in stadiums). The Government has made no further commitments in this regard in its response.

27 March 2024 –  Gambling Commission publishes response to consultation on frequency of regulatory returns

The Gambling Commission has published its consultation response to the consultation it ran from November 2023 to February 2024 in respect of the frequency of regulatory returns. The Commission has decided to require all licensees to submit returns quarterly (previously this obligation was annual for certain licensees) and will amend licence condition 15.3.1 of the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice to provide for this. This change will be effective from 1 July 2024.  

23 February 2024 – Government confirms maximum stake limits for online slots

Following a 10 week consultation period, the Government has announced that from September 2024 (following the coming into force of secondary legislation) maximum stake limits will apply in respect of online slots. The stake limits will be £5 per spin for consumers aged 25 and over (bringing it in line with non-remote casinos), and £2 per spin for consumers aged between 18 and 24. 

22 February 2024 – Gambling Commission announces next steps for financial risk checks

The Gambling Commission has outlined its intended next steps in respect of the introduction of financial risk checks. In its statement, the Commission outlines a stepped introduction: “to ease the introduction of these checks they will initially come into force at a higher threshold for a short period of time, before reverting to a lower threshold later in the year to smooth implementation for consumers”.

The Commission also outline plans for a pilot, which will run for 4 – 6 months: “we consider that conducting a pilot period with a selection of operators will give us sufficient information to inform future decision-making. We will work closely with industry to make sure that we have a spread of different businesses – such as betting companies and casinos as well as some variation in the size of the organisation…Throughout this pilot period, gambling businesses will not be expected to act on the data they receive – this is to be a genuine pilot of how the data sharing works – but they will be expected to continue to protect consumers by implementing their own existing consumer safety controls and remaining compliant with our existing regulatory requirements”. 

21 December 2023 – Culture, Media and Sport Committee publishes report on gambling regulation reform

The Culture Media and Sport Committee has published a report setting out its proposals for gambling law reform. Whilst the report will not impact the implementation of the proposals set out in the White Paper directly, it illustrates the direction the Committee expects regulation to take nonetheless. 

15 December 2023 – Gambling Commission launches third tranche of consultations

The Gambling Commission has launched its third tranche of consultations relating to the White Paper. These focus on:

• changes to clarify the way financial penalties are calculated; and 
• changes to the rules on ownership/financial key event reporting.

The consultations (which can be accessed here) close on 15 March 2024.

29 November 2023 – Gambling Commission launches second tranche of consultations 

The Gambling Commission has launched its second tranche of consultations relating to the White Paper. These focus on:

• new rules on incentives (a ban or limit on wagering requirements and a ban on mixing product types within incentives); 
• changes to make sure that consumers who want to make use of pre-commitment tools (such as deposit limits) can do so easily; 
• a new requirement to remind customers if their funds are not protected in the event of insolvency;
• requiring all licensees to submit regulatory returns on a quarterly basis (instead of annually); and 
• removing the LCCP condition in respect of voluntary donations to fund research, prevention and treatment (assuming the new statutory levy being consulted on by the government is brought into force). 

The consultations (which can be accessed here) close on 21 February 2023.

17 October 2023 – Government launches consultation on levy on gambling revenues

The Government has published a consultation on the implementation of the new statutory levy proposed in the White Paper. Its proposal is that the levy will be 1% of gross gambling yield for online gambling operators and 0.4% of gross gambling yield for non-remote operators. The Government estimates the levy will raise £100 million per year, with such funds being used for research, prevention and treatment of gambling addiction. The levy will be mandatory (unlike the existing voluntary levy), with the Gambling Commission collecting it and distributing funding directly to the NHS and UK Research and Innovation. The consultation is open for responses for 8 weeks.

7 September 2023 – Gambling Commission addresses “misconceptions” regarding financial risk checks

In his latest blog post, Andrew Rhodes of the Gambling Commission has sought to address some “misconceptions” regarding requirements for financial risk checks that have emerged since the publication of the Commission’s consultation regarding the same six weeks ago. In particular, Rhodes claims that there will be “frictionless” financial risk assessments for an estimated 3 percent of gambling accounts, with only an estimated 0.3 percent ever being asked to provide information such as payslips or bank statements.

26 July 2023 – Gambling Commission launches first tranche of consultations 

The Gambling Commission has launched its first four consultations relating to the White Paper: financial risk and vulnerability; remote games design; improving consumer choice on direct marketing; and strengthening age verification in premises. The consultations (which can be accessed here) close on 18 October 2023.

26 July 2023 – Government launches online stake slot limit and land based consultations

The Government has launched its first two consultations relating to the White Paper, on online stake limits for slots games and measures relating to the land-based sector. The consultations (which can be accessed here and here) close on 20 September 2023 and 4 October 2023 respectively. 

7 July 2023 – Gambling Commission provides update on implementation

The Gambling Commission has provided an update on its plans for implementation of the various tasks assigned to it in the White Paper. It has confirmed that the first four consultation documents will be the following, which will be published in July:

• age verification in premises;
• remote games design;
• direct marketing and cross-selling; and 
• financial risk and vulnerability checks for remote operators.

These four consultations will be joined by two other non-White Paper related consultations (on personal management licences and regulatory panels).

19 June 2023 – Gambling Commission launches hub for operators engaging with third parties

In accordance with its instructions in the White Paper to “consolidate existing information and good practice for operators on contracting with third parties”, the Gambling Commission has launched a website hub focusing on operator responsibilities when working with non-licensed entities, including white label partners.

8 June 2023 – Gambling Commission publishes assessment of online games design changes

The Gambling Commission has published its assessment of the impact of the changes it introduced in October 2021 in respect of online slots products. The Commission claims “indications of reduced play intensity with no significant negative impacts on play or behaviours” can be seen. As set out in the White Paper, this is the first step the Commission was directed to take before consulting on product-wide design standards. 

3 May 2023 – Gambling Commission sets out plans for implementation of White Paper

Tim Miller, Executive Director of the Gambling Commission, has published a blog post setting out the Commission’s plans for implementation of the reforms set out in the White Paper. In his post, he notes that “the scale of work outlined in the White Paper is significant, and rightly so. This will be the dominant policy initiative for the Commission over the next few years as we move through the stages of development, implementation, evaluation and review”.

27 April 2023 – Gambling Commission publishes Gambling Act Review advice

The Gambling Commission has published its advice to the UK Government in respect of the Government’s review of the Gambling Act 2005.

27 April 2023 – Gambling White Paper published 

Having formally announced its review of the Gambling Act 2005 back in December 2020, the UK Government (after many false dawns and leaks) has finally published its White Paper. Various proposals are made in the paper, most notably:

• Mandatory financial risk checks (otherwise known as ‘affordability checks’) will be introduced. The Gambling Commission will consult on checks for moderate levels of spend (£125 net loss within a month or £500 within a year) and high levels of spend (£1,000 net loss within 24 hours or £2,000 within 90 days).
• The Government proposes a stake limit for online slots, consulting on a limit of between £2 and £15 per spin (and lower limits for 18 to 24 year olds).
• The Gambling Commission will consult on mandating participation in a cross-operator harm prevention system, updating design rules for online products, and new controls for the design and targeting of incentives. 
• The Government will introduce a statutory levy paid by the industry to fund research, education and the treatment of gambling harms. 
• A non-statutory ombudsman will be appointed to deal with disputes and provide appropriate redress where a customer suffers losses due to operators’ social responsibility failures.
• Various restrictions for land-based operators will be relaxed or lifted altogether. The rules on gaming machines in casinos will be made more consistent (permitting an upper limit of 80 rather than 20 to all casinos), sports betting will be permitted in all casinos, and the ban on the direct use of debit cards on gaming machines will be overturned (once the Gambling Commission has consulted on options for cashless payments). The 80/20 ratio which restricts the balance of Category B and C/D machines in bingo and arcade venues will be relaxed to 50/50.