Charles Counsell named as interim chair of the British Gambling Commission

Counsell has been appointed for a nine-month term as chair of the British gambling regulator.

UK.– Lisa Nandy, the secretary of state for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, has appointed Charles Counsell OBE as the interim chair of British Gambling Commission. He will serve for a nine-month term starting from February 1, 2025.

Counsell will replace Marcus Boyle, who announced in November that he would step down from the role on January 31 2025. His departure will mark the end of a stint of over three years in the position, which has seen major reforms in gambling legislation and regulation in the UK.

Counsell has been at the Gambling Commission since April, serving as senior independent director. He was previously CEO of the Money Advice Service and later The Pensions Regulator, where he developed a new corporate strategy for the pension saver and the body’s first equality, diversity and inclusion strategy and climate change strategies, focused on driving change in the regulator and across the pensions sector.

The Gambling Commission said Counsell’s roles throughout his career have focused on setting up and delivering large change programmes requiring significant stakeholder relationship engagement, initially in the private sector and then in senior public sector appointments.

Counsell’s chairmanship will see continued gambling reforms in Britain. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has confirmed plans to introduce a mandatory levy on gambling operators from April 2025 to fund research, education and treatment. 

Meanwhile, it has confirmed plans to evaluate the gambling reforms introduced so far, working with the Gambling Commission to conduct an in-depth evaluation and assess whether measures taken to date have had any unintended consequences.

The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) will also play a role in the review, which will include an evaluation of measures such as affordability checks and the new stake limits for online slots. Research methods will include consumer and operator surveys, in-depth interviews, focus groups and tracking and monitoring. It’s likely that the review will provide an opportunity for operators and the horseracing sector to again raise their concerns about affordability checks.

The position of chair of the Gambling Commission is remunerated at £55,000 per annum and the appointment is made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments, regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Under the Code, any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years must be declared.