UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport sets out governance framework for statutory gambling levy

The UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has revised the Terms of Reference for the Gambling Levy Programme Board, setting out in greater detail how the new statutory levy on gambling will be governed and monitored as funds are allocated to address gambling-related harm.

The updated framework clarifies how responsibility is shared across government for overseeing the levy, which finances research, prevention, and treatment initiatives linked to gambling-related harm.

According to DCMS, the Programme Board is designed to operate as a cross-government forum, bringing together relevant UK departments alongside representatives from the Scottish and Welsh governments. 

DCMS states that the central purpose of the Board is to ensure that the commissioning bodies appointed under the levy are delivering against government objectives to strengthen and expand research, prevention, and treatment activity.

Levy-funded work cuts across multiple departmental remits, and the department argues that a formal governance body is required to track progress, assess performance, and identify risks at a system-wide level.

Under the revised Terms of Reference, the Programme Board holds collective responsibility for monitoring the overall functioning and health of the levy system. This includes assessing whether the levy is meeting agreed objectives and commissioning priorities.

However, DCMS emphasizes that the Board does not control individual spending decisions. Detailed decisions on funding allocations remain with the commissioning bodies designated by the department.

The governance update also formalizes a shift in leadership structure. Rather than being overseen by individually appointed public figures, the Gambling Levy is now governed by a role-based Board. The Programme Board is chaired by the Director for Sport and Gambling at DCMS, a role currently held by senior civil servant Ben Dean, with support from the Deputy Director for Gambling and Lotteries, Julie Carney.

An annex published by DCMS confirms that the Board consists of 10 members. All are appointed by virtue of their institutional roles within the levy system, rather than in a personal capacity, reinforcing the emphasis on departmental accountability rather than individual representation.

Despite the creation of the Programme Board, DCMS retains overall responsibility for implementing the statutory levy. Under Section 123 of the Gambling Act 2005, final approval of levy funding allocations rests with the Secretary of State for DCMS, currently Lisa Nandy, or the minister responsible for gambling policy, Baroness Twycross.

HM Treasury is named in legislation as a joint approver, providing fiscal oversight. DCMS notes that the Treasury’s involvement is expected to be proportionate, particularly once the levy has passed its first year of operation.

Operational responsibility for commissioning levy-funded work is divided among specialist bodies. The Department of Health and Social Care leads on treatment and public health, with NHS England acting as the treatment commissioning body and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities responsible for prevention activity.

Research funding is overseen by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology through UK Research and Innovation. In line with devolved arrangements, the Scottish and Welsh governments manage prevention and treatment spending within their own jurisdictions.

As the new system moves forward, GambleAware is scheduled to be dissolved in March next year, bringing to an end more than two decades of involvement in commissioning gambling harm treatment and prevention programs.