UK

An update from the Gambling Commission has suggested that there are no real patterns for consumer engagement with illegal gambling sites – but hundreds of millions of minutes are being racked up on there every month.

Data also suggests a huge increase in consumers using VPNs to access these sites since the Online Safety Act came into force in July 2025.

A blog post from Tim Livesley, Head of the Data Innovation Hub at the Gambling Commission, has revealed fresh insight into how the regulator is tracking illegal gambling activity and the challenges it faces in measuring it accurately.

Speaking following the Commission’s Spring Evidence Conference in Birmingham, Livesley outlined both recent trends and ongoing efforts to refine the regulator’s methodology.

The latest analysis, extending trend data through February 2026, suggests that engagement continues to fluctuate rather than follow a clear upward or seasonal pattern, but shows just how prevalent illegal operators consistently a..

The UK’s Gambling Commission (GC) has defended its proposed financial risk assessments (FRAs), pushing back against mounting criticism from industry stakeholders who warn the measures could drive customers to the black market.

Debates around FRAs have continued to spiral in what has been a hectic recent period for the UK’s gambling industry, which has also been hampered by the recent increase in Remote Gaming Duty (RGD) tax to 40%.

In a detailed update, Helen Rhodes, the regulator’s Director of Major Policy Projects and Evaluation, said the checks are designed to identify high-spending customers in financial difficulty, rather than introduce affordability limits or spending caps.

The proposals stem from the 2023 Gambling Act review White Paper and have been incessantly backed by the UK government. Affordability was a defining topic of the 2020-2023 Gambling Act review, and FRAs were the touted solution in the April 2023 White Paper.

Gambling Commission to only target 3%

According ..

Prominent reformist figurehead Dr James Noyes has urged the Department of Culture, Media and Sport “to hit pause” on the use of financial risk checks on gambling.

A senior advisor of cross-party think tank the Social Market Foundation (SMF), Noyes has raised direct concerns to DCMS Secretary Lisa Nandy over the transparency and effectiveness of the pilot scheme that has been rolled out by the Gambling Commission.

Dr James Noyes: SMF

Noyes is a vocal former supporter of affordability checks during the long-running Gambling Act review consultation. He is now warning that the current implementation risks are drifting away from its original intent of being “frictionless” and proportionate, as set out in the review’s White Paper in April 2023.

“Despite the White Paper’s claim that financial risk checks would be frictionless, recent reports suggest that the opposite is the case,” Noyes wrote, adding that he is seeing “increasing reports that the pilot scheme has involved inconsistent dat..

GamCare believes the over £4m it has provisionally been awarded from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) VCSE Gambling Harms Prevention and Resilience Fund will help the charity ‘reduce the gap between harm and help for thousands’.

The charity will implement two dedicated programmes with the 2026-2028 funding: a community outreach service and specialist support for people who have been affected by someone else’s gambling. Both programmes are expected to be delivered from April 2026, subject to confirmation.

Supported by the prevention strand of the statutory levy on gambling operators, OHID has recently allocated £25.4m to 33 voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations that provide gambling harm support across England.

Victoria Corbishley, Chief Executive Officer of GamCare, commented: “This provisional award, once confirmed, would help us to reduce the gap between harm and help for thousands of people across England.

“Whether someone is strugglin..

Skill On Net has been criticised by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for a paid-for Instagram advertisement involving a stand-up comedian talking about pistachios.

An advert for the white label casino brand Gecko Play showcased the comedian, who was not named, performing a set on stage in which they said: “Gambling is really like eating pistachios, if you get a good pistachio, you want another good one, if you get a bad one, you want a good one even more,” receiving a laugh from the audience.

A GambleAware logo and an 18+ sign were featured at the bottom of the video, next to text which stated, “Gambling can be addictive please play responsibly” and #AD in the bottom right-hand corner.

The ASA stated that two complainants challenged whether the ad encouraged socially irresponsible gambling behaviour.

Skill On Net argued that the similarities made between gambling and pistachios were ‘intended as light-hearted, observational humour regarding the variability and unpredictabi..

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) has disclosed the funding allocation it will distribute to local councils across England to support efforts to reduce gambling-related harms.

Booked on 2026–2027 accounts, OHID plans to distribute £12m in dedicated funding to upper-tier local councils in England. Councils have also been informed that OHID has reserved an additional £12m in funding which will be allocated for the 2027–2028 period.

Funding for local councils to reduce gambling harms is fully guaranteed by the New Statutory Levy on gambling licences. Since April 2025, OHID has taken its guardianship, overseeing the prevention and treatment of problem gambling across England.

The direct funding of councils via the statutory levy system underscores a shift to a centralised system led by the NHS, moving away from the previous voluntary framework under GambleAware.

In support of the new system, local councils must complete two mandatory requirements to secure the al..