The UK has launched an independent review of the Gambling Act 2005 to assess whether the 20-year-old legislation remains fit for purpose. The newly established Gambling Policy Commission (GPC) will gather evidence from researchers, industry representatives, regulators and consumers, with a final report due in 2028.
The commission will examine whether current law can accommodate prediction markets, cryptocurrencies, artificial intelligence and gambling-like features embedded in digital products. It will also assess the boundary between gambling and financial activity. The GPC will evaluate the 2023 Gambling White Paper and subsequent reforms to determine whether they delivered measurable results.
Taxation will be central to the review. The commission will examine how the recent increase in Machine Games Duty—from 5% to 25%—affects operators and consumers, alongside its interaction with the statutory levy funding research and treatment. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport estimates gambling contributed £5 billion to UK gross value added in 2024 and supported approximately 75,000 jobs in 2025. HM Revenue & Customs recorded £3.9 billion in betting and gaming duties in the 2025/26 financial year, with the Office for Budget Responsibility expecting further growth.
The GPC will investigate illegal gambling, including offshore and unlicensed operations. A Gambling Commission survey found that 2.5% of adults in Great Britain who gambled online in the previous year used an illegal gambling website in the four weeks before being surveyed. Ismail Vali, president of Gambling Compliance International, questioned whether this figure reflected the financial scale of illegal gambling. 'A relatively small audience, particularly one concentrated around vulnerable, repeat or high-value gambling behaviours, can generate substantial criminal revenue,' he said.
Other areas of inquiry include civil liability for gambling-related harm, economic rights for sports organisations over betting on their events, and whether a formal cross-government structure is needed for policy coordination. The commission is chaired by Professor Jagjit Chadha of the University of Cambridge. The call for evidence closes on February 12, 2027.
