GamCare has called on the UK government to use NHS structure transformation plans as a natural stopgap to reflect on the statutory levy’s implementation.
During the King’s Speech, delivered in Parliament yesterday (13 May), the government confirmed plans to table the NHS Modernisation Bill, which will abolish NHS England and align the UK’s healthcare service more closely with the Department of Health and Social Care.
It’s a move that will have significant implications for the gambling industry, as NHS England only recently replaced GambleAware as the commissioner of gambling harm treatment under the statutory levy, along with the Scottish and Welsh equivalents.
NHS England was responsible for signing treatment contracts that began in April 2026 with organisations such as GamCare. All funding contracts were agreed on an annual basis, meaning that charities such as GamCare would have had to negotiate with the treatment commissioner every year.
However, any forward planning has been complicated by the fact that agreements for April 2027 will need to be made with the yet-to-be-named organisation that will take over.
GamCare described this enforced transition period as coming at a ‘critical time’ for gambling harm treatment services as the sector adjusts to the new era.
The organisation’s CEO, Victoria Corbishley, further argued that the need for new funding decisions in April 2027 offers the perfect opportunity to evaluate the impact of the heavily debated levy.
She said: “We believe there is a valuable opportunity to reflect on the early implementation of the levy and ensure the next phase is built on the strongest possible foundations.
“The first phase of levy-funded commissioning has generated important learning about how services can be commissioned and coordinated effectively across a complex system.”
Large swathes of the gambling industry were dragged kicking and screaming into the statutory levy era, as opponents of the shift shared concerns that progress made in problem gambling treatment would stall and crucial industry experience would be lost.
Given the new system’s relative infancy, it is hard to properly assess the levy’s success, which generated £120m in funding from operators during the first year, 50% of this figure being allocated to NHS England.
The government’s NHS restructuring presents an early challenge for the levy, and Curbishley emphasised the importance of ensuring there is no disruption to gambling harm treatment as the details are worked out.
“We recognise the Government’s ambition to modernise health commissioning and bring decision-making closer to local communities,” she added. “For people affected by gambling harms, continuity of access to support through any period of structural change will be essential.”
