The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities has issued guidance warning recipients of statutory levy funding to abstain from attending industry-funded events.
OHID is responsible for distributing levy funds earmarked specifically for gambling harm prevention, with independence from industry appearing to be the department’s overriding priority.
The prohibition is framed as guidance, stating: “Things to avoid: Attendance or participation in industry funded events.”
Presented alongside an absolute ban on accepting industry funding, the guidance has effectively prevented charities from attending this week’s iGB Live trade show.
Self-exclusion charity BetBlocker was the notable exception, having only been notified of the guidance a week before the exhibition due to administrative abnormalities.
Aside from BetBlocker, no other levy awardee attended iGB Live, suggesting the guidance carries the same practical weight as a binding rule.
Duncan Garvie, founder of BetBlocker, told NEXT.io that despite the ambiguity of the wording, “awardees appear to have accepted that this is just going to be the way things work.”
Concerns about undue industry influence drove the implementation of the centralised levy and the abandonment of the previous voluntary funding system.
In what many observers have characterised as an overcorrection, charities previously operating successfully under the voluntary model have been overlooked for funding due to perceived closeness to industry.
BetBlocker, GamCare, Betknowmore, and YGAM are among the organisations now facing practical barriers to performing their functions effectively under the new rules.
These charities would previously have been regular fixtures at industry events like iGB Live, using such gatherings to build partnerships and raise awareness of their services.
Garvie attended iGB Live this week and made a public case on LinkedIn for why such events are critical for reaching those who most need prevention services.
Posting on LinkedIn, he noted: “Each of these conversations has the potential to meaningfully change either the protections that BetBlocker offers to everyone (including our UK users), or raise awareness of our support within relevant populations.”
He added: “And none of them would have occurred if we hadn’t participated in this event.”
Speaking with NEXT.io, Garvie expressed a clear desire for an outcome-based approach to levy policy, while acknowledging perception management as a reasonable concern.
He stated he is deeply concerned about the real-world impact that event restrictions will have on BetBlocker’s most vulnerable users.
Garvie confirmed that had the current restrictions been in place when BetBlocker was first invited to participate in iGB Live, the charity would have declined the invitation entirely.
As things stand, iGB Live 2026 will likely be the last UK trade show the charity attends under the current regulatory framework.
There are hopes, however, that constructive dialogue with OHID could produce a clear conflict of interest policy allowing conditional participation in industry events going forward.
Garvie writes: “Where we fail to take a level-headed approach, we risk jeopardising outcomes for the vulnerable people that we support.”
OHID has been contacted for further comment on its guidance and the viability of a workable conflict of interest policy, but the department has not yet responded.
