Gambling fines to go to central government, British regulator confirms
Despite industry opposition, the Gambling Commission has concluded that there is no other viable destination for regulatory settlements following recent reforms.
UK.- The Gambling Commission has decided to proceed with a proposal to amend section 2.39 of its Statement of principles for determining fines issued to British gambling operators for regulatory breaches. With immediate effect, all regulatory settlements will be paid directly to the government’s Consolidated Fund.
The move aligns regulatory settlements with the process already in place for financial penalties under the Gambling Act 2005. While the terms are often used interchangeably in informal contexts, regulatory settlements are an alternative form of enforcement action, which can involve payments in lieu of a financial penalty. They allow the regulator and licensee to reach a quicker outcome without the need for a formal licence review.
Until now, payments made in lieu of a financial penalty as part of a regulatory settlement did not need to be paid into the Consolidated Fund. Instead, there was a presumption that they would be paid to GambleAware to be used for specific agreed purposes for its commissioning of gambling research, prevention and treatment. However, the Gambling Commission says this it was never the intention that industry fines becomes a core part of the funding for such work.
Why the change for gambling regulatory settlement funds?
Following the introduction of the statutory gambling levy in April 2025 as a dedicated source of funding for gambling research, education and treatment, GambleAware ceased to exist in March leaving the Gambling Commission with no automatic destination for regulatory settlement funds.
The Gambling Commission explored a range of options with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The possibility of mirroring arrangements in place for the levy was ruled out due to the complexity and potential volatility of regulatory settlement funds and because levy allocations should already be sufficient to enable effective and sustainable research, prevention and treatment. As a result, it proposed that settlement money go directly to the Consolidated Fund, making central government responsible for deciding how to use the funds.
Gambling sector opposition
The change was the topic of an eight-week consultation that ran from February to April. The responses show that several industry stakeholders opposed the proposal, raising concerns that funds would be leaving the gambling ecosystem and would be used by the government for non-gambling priorities. As such, there would no longer be a ‘polluter pays’ principle for regulatory settlements, they argued.
However, supporters of the proposal saw it as the only viable option in the absence of any other central body that could receive and spend regulatory settlement funds.
