UK Gambling Reform: Tackling Addiction, Advertising, and the Black Market

Send us a topic important to you.There is a pressing need for reform in UK gambling regulation, highlighting that current rules fail to protect people, particularly young men and those in deprived communities. Evidence shows that 60% of the industry’s profits come from just 5% of customers who are problem or at-risk gamblers. Harms include hundreds of suicides annually and significant costs to the public purse. Key themes include the £2 billion spent yearly on pervasive digital advertising, the push for a statutory gambling ombudsman, and the challenge of new taxes potentially driving consumers toward dangerous, unregulated black market sites.Key TakeawaysCurrent regulation is insufficient to protect children and young people, with the proportion of youth experiencing significant harms doubling between 2023 and 2024.Gambling addiction is linked to serious harms including debt, poor physical and mental health, and significant public costs estimated at £3,700 per problem gambler per year.Stricter advertising limits are being pursued, as research shows 96% of young people (aged 11-24) saw gambling marketing messages in the month before one study.The government has increased remote gaming duty and introduced a statutory levy, which has raised nearly £120 million since April, with 50% allocated to NHS England and equivalents for treatment.There is widespread cross-party agreement on the urgent need to establish a statutory independent gambling ombudsman to handle disputes and oversight.A major concern is that aggressive regulation and taxation may push users into the unregulated black market, where consumer protections like affordability checks and self-exclusion are non-existent.Source: Gambling: Regulatory ReformVolume 776: debated on Tuesday 2 December 2025Follow and subscribe to 'The Bench Report' on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube for new episodes daily: thebenchreport.co.ukSubscribe to our Substack Shape our next episode! Get in touch with an issue important to you - Producer Tom will grab another coffee and start the research!Email us: [email protected] us on YouTube,  X, Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok! @benchreportUKSupport us for bonus and extended episodes + more.No outside chatter: source material only taken from Hansard and the Parliament UK website.  Contains Parliamentary information repurposed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0....