Multiple UK gambling charities have yet to receive any statutory levy funding, despite the new system launching on 1 April 2026.
The prevention-focused charities transitioned to a new funding model that included a competitive application process for a £12 million pot.
Nearly three months after that transition date, several organisations have not received a single penny of the promised money.
Other charities only received their funding relatively recently, with continuing delays around technical aspects of finalised bids, including setting KPIs to assess the work.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities had stated the first tranche of funding would be released from April, making the delays a significant breach of expectations.
The £120 million total raised by the statutory levy in 2025 is divided into separate pots reserved for prevention, research, and treatment respectively.
OHID serves as commissioner for prevention projects, while UK Research and Innovation and the NHS handle research and treatment funding distributions.
The new funding approach followed serious financial difficulties within the gambling harms sector, after money earmarked for the transition from the old industry-funded model proved inadequate.
That earlier shortfall, overseen by GambleAware, triggered widespread layoffs, a damaging brain drain, and the erosion of gambling harms service provision across several well-known organisations.
One gambling harms source told NEXT.io: “People were very anxious. The problem is that nobody knows what the system is, and OHID hasn’t been forthcoming with much information, and so a lot of people were just panicking – especially as these organisations have been running on the reserve.”
A government stop-gap fund was made available from 1 April to 30 June, but eligibility was limited to applicants that were unsuccessful in securing statutory levy funding.
Successful applicants have been left unable to plan effectively, with key staff reportedly working without pay in some cases while waiting for funds to arrive.
The same source continued: “We’ve ended up taking on more risk and hope that this eventually pans out. [We’ve] personally suffered financially for this. I would be surprised if other organisations weren’t in similar situations.”
A judicial review is also being pursued by organisations excluded from the grants, including Gamban, targeting the eligibility process as first reported by EGR.
Entities associated with gambling reform campaigners were largely excluded from the grants, with campaigners arguing this leaves the inherent harm of gambling unchallenged in the charity space.
Legacy charities maintain they simply submitted more competitive bids, while new entrants and non-gambling-specific organisations like the Citizens Advice Bureau were approved for funding.
One insider identified the core problem as the complexity of OHID’s personalised system, which links the release of funds directly to specific performance targets set for each organisation.
They said: “It’s taken them a long time to do and I think a lot of organisations who have been running very close to their financial thresholds have found the last two and a half, three months really challenging to just keep limping along, not actually sure when they’re going to get paid.”
The insider added: “Months’ worth of staffing – it’s a huge expense – and with funding confirmed, but no actual funds on hand. Nobody’s going to be feeling happy about that.”
OHID did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.
