GwL joins call for Labour to enact statutory levy immediately

Families bereaved by gambling-related suicide, members of the House of Lords, and leading figures from the third sector have signed an open letter to the Prime Minister urging him to implement the statutory levy on gambling industry profits without further delay.

The levy was due to raise around £100 million a year for treatment, prevention, and research, bringing independence to the Third sector and more funds for the NHS. However, the outcome of the previous government’s consultation on the delivery of the levy, which closed in December 2023, has not yet been published. There was no mention of the levy in the King’s Speech last week.

Up to 1.44 million adults are directly harmed by gambling in the UK and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) estimates there are 117- 496 gambling-related suicides each year in England alone.

The letter warns that further delays will cost more lives: “a delayed levy will lead to further harm to mental health, damage communities across the country and, ultimately, will cost lives.”

You can read the letter in full below.