The British Gambling Commission: what is it and what does it do?

The Gambling Commission is the body responsible for regulating all land-based and online gaming in Britain. How does it work and what does it do?

The Gambling Commission was founded under the 2005 Gambling Act in order to regulate gambling activities in Great Britain.

It is an independent, non-departmental public body sponsored by the UK government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

There are two groups that form the highest level of governance within the gambling commission; the Board of Commissioners and the senior leadership team.

The Board of Commissioners is chaired by Bill Moyes and the senior leadership team is headed by the lottery’s current Chief Executive, Neil McArthur.

Below them, the commission has around 250 employees.

Its work is funded by fees set by DCMS and paid by the organisations and individuals it licenses.

What does the British Gambling Commission do?

The commission regulates commercial gambling activities in Great Britain including; arcades, betting, bingo, casinos, gaming machine providers, gambling software providers, lottery operators (excluding small society lotteries), and remote gambling that uses British-based equipment.

It also regulates the National Lottery, which it took over from the National Lottery Commission in 2013, under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. Its work for the lottery is financed by the National Lottery Distribution Fund.

As a regulator, it is responsible for issuing gambling licences, both for individuals and businesses. It sets requirements for all of its licence holders and carries out assessments to assure its requirements are met.

Once a licence is obtained from the commission, it still has the power to take action if it finds individuals or businesses fail to follow its rules and regulations.

The commission also provides statistics on gambling in the UK, including recent figures that showed British gambling participation fell significantly in 2020.

Earlier this year it also began a consumer guidance campaign to provide the public with information on the different gambling block services offered by banks in the UK.