British regulator renews contract for national gambling survey
The National Centre for Social Research and the University of Glasgow will deliver the Gambling Survey for Great Britain for another four years.
UK.- The Gambling Commission has awarded a four-year contract for the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) and the University of Glasgow to deliver the Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB) until 2030.
The regulator said the new contract builds on years of survey development, culminating in the launch of the GSGB in 2024 as the official source of statistics on gambling behaviours in Great Britain.
While there has been some controversy over the change in methodology, the survey has become one of the largest and most comprehensive gambling surveys in the world since its launch. It’s led to the publication of more detailed reports and analysis, including on variations in gambling behaviour with different formats.
“The GSGB is already offering unprecedented insight into how people gamble, enabling the Commission to monitor behaviours over time and to publish in-depth thematic reports,” the regulator said. “These have included analyses of why people gamble, the characteristics of more frequent gamblers, and the relationship between specific gambling activities and Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) scores.”
The next phase of the Gambling Survey for Great Britain
Over the next four years, NatCen and the University of Glasgow will continue to refine and enhance the survey, supporting the Gambling Commission’s commitment to developing evidence and improving data quality.
As outlined in the Gambling Commission’s evidence roadmaps published last month, the next phase will explore the potential for using the GSGB for longitudinal research and data linkage, opening up new possibilities for understanding how gambling behaviours evolve over time.
Tim Miller, the regulator’s executive director of Research and Policy, said: “The Gambling Survey for Great Britain has already transformed our understanding of how people gamble, providing richer, more reliable insight than ever before. We are pleased to award this new contract to NatCen and the University of Glasgow, whose expertise has been central to the GSGB’s success so far.
“Over the next four years we’ll continue to strengthen the survey and expand what it can tell us – whether that’s through deeper analysis or exploring opportunities for longitudinal research. This work is fundamental to ensuring our regulation is rooted in the best possible evidence.”
Mari Toomse-Smith, director of Health and Biomedical Surveys at the National Centre for Social Research, said the potential of the survey would grow with each new survey year.
Professor Heather Wardle added: “We’re excited to work with the Commission to explore how we can further enhance the GSGB, looking at how survey data can be merged with information about gambling from other sources, and looking at how we can better understand how behaviours change over time. We’re especially well placed to do this, having led methodological innovation on understanding gambling for the last 20 years”
