Call for industry proposals to address the burdens associated with gambling regulation

Overview

This is a formal invitation to the gambling industry to submit proposals to address the burdens associated with gambling regulation. It is not a consultation. 

In our Business plan for 2026-27 (opens in a new tab), the Gambling Commission set out following planned activity:

We intend to support consumer focussed innovation, ensuring consistency with regulatory requirements.  Subject to resource, we will additionally review industry proposals to reduce regulatory administrative burdens and identify any proposals to amend regulations or improve the communication of them. This could involve provision of advice to Government on measures that could amended by means of legislation. 

We are committed to ensuring that the costs to the industry associated with compliance with gambling legislation and regulation, alongside the costs of demonstrating that compliance, remain proportionate to the risks to consumers, in line with our Statement of Principles for Licensing and Regulation (opens in a new tab), and pursuant to the licensing objectives of the Gambling Act 2005 (opens in a new tab):

• to keep crime out of gambling
• ensure that gambling is conducted fairly and openly
• protecting children and vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

This document is a formal invitation to the gambling industry to submit proposals to address the burdens associated with gambling regulation.

Scope

We are inviting proposals across all aspects of gambling regulation. This could include proposals that directly relate to the Commission’s own Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (opens in a new tab) requirements and ordinary code provisions, technical standards and our Statements of Principles, or relate to the wider regulatory landscape or how multiple different requirements that apply to your business interact.   

Your proposals may be related to current requirements or guidance that, due to the passage of time and other regulatory or legislative changes, no longer serve their intended purpose well or could be streamlined or rationalised.

You may have innovative proposals to improve or enhance the consumer experience of the gambling market while remaining reasonably consistent with the licensing objectives.

You may have examples of the Commission’s operational processes which could be streamlined to reduce the costs of administration associated with regulatory reporting.

You may have suggestions around how we could more effectively structure and communicate our regulatory requirements, guidance and expectations.

As noted, we recognise that some proposals may relate to how different parts of the regulatory framework interact with each other, and this may include combinations of guidance, requirements or even legislation. In these cases, industry proposals may include aspects related to gambling or other legislation. Legislation sits outside the Commission’s remit, but we are keen to understand what those constraints or restrictions may be and the impact they may have, particularly where there are interactions with our own requirements or guidance. Where proposals relate to issues beyond our remit are received, we will ensure these are passed on to the relevant bodies.

Exceptions

While the Commission seeks to be as inclusive as possible in identifying and addressing the burdens associated with gambling regulation, we are unlikely to consider detailed proposals in relation to:

• Live and current policy areas that have been subject to formal consultation, for which the outcomes have not yet been published. The burdens and business impacts of these live policy areas have been and continue to be under active consideration as part of the consultation process.
• Recent policy developments which have been subject to consultation, have been implemented recently and are still subject to evaluation to understand the medium- to longer-term impacts on consumers and on businesses. Revisiting recently implemented policy changes would only be considered in light of strong evidence of adverse consequences being realised.

The Gambling Act Review and 2023 white paper High stakes: gambling reform for the digital age (opens in a new tab) introduced a comprehensive package of measures designed to deliver enhanced and improved consumer protections, the implementation and evaluation of which has not yet been fully realised (click here for the latest progress update on the Gambling Act Review evaluation). Consequently, this call for proposals should not be used to propose new or additional regulatory requirements of this nature.

Next steps

The Commission will continue to look for ways to ensure that the regulatory burden is proportionate and appropriate to the risks. To enable us to review and prioritise any actions coming from proposals on this occasion, we ask that you submit proposals any time until 25 September 2026. We ask that you use the form provided to help us understand your rationale and the anticipated benefits and impacts of your proposals. 

In addition, we will facilitate a discussion on reducing the burden of gambling regulation at the next Operators Engagement Forum on 2 July 2026.

We will review proposals and consider any action that can be taken forward to ensure that the regulatory burden remains proportionate to the risks. Proposals to replace or streamline existing controls set by the Commission could require consultation before they could be implemented. Where proposals should more properly be considered by other bodies we will pass the proposals on to those organisations, and if appropriate we would provide advice on the viability of the proposal to those organisations to inform their thinking.

Full consideration and decisions to take forward proposals, including the timing for this, will of course be subject to our available resources and business planning prioritisation. Consideration of those opportunities to reduce burdens and restrictions will need to be balanced with maintaining appropriate consumer protections.

What to include in your proposal

The structure of the form follows. Not all questions will be relevant to all proposals, and you do not have to answer every question. However, please include all details that you would like taken into account, and where possible clear evidence which can inform our review of proposals.

Proposal summary and current position

• A short summary of the proposal
• Which type of licence or licenced activity the proposal would apply to
• The part of the current regulatory framework (including section or reference) the proposal relates to
• A summary of the burden or restrictions associated with the current position

Rationale for the proposal

• Rationale for the proposal, including for consumers, the industry and regulation:
  • The risks to the licensing objectives associated with the proposal and how these could be mitigated
  • The opportunities and/or benefits that would be realised through the proposal

Implementation and evaluation

• Recommended appropriate method for further action or implementation
• An assessment of the costs to industry associated with taking the proposal forward
• How long term evaluation of any implemented proposal could be carried out

Other factors to consider

• Any assumptions, potential unintended consequences and other risk mitigations, and related or interdependent work that would maximise the impact of the proposal
• Information regarding potential equalities considerations.

There is additional space at the end of the form to upload further information.

If you wish to submit multiple proposals, please use a separate form for each one.