UK Launches New Gambling Harm Research Centre

(AsiaGameHub) –   The United Kingdom has launched a new independent research centre dedicated to gambling-related harm, with levy funding allocated for evidence-building, prevention efforts, and policy-focused work.

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Key Details to Know

• The Gambling Harms Research UK Evidence Centre will receive £22.1 million in funding for the 2025-2026 period.
• UKRI will finance the centre using 20% of the statutory national Gambling Levy.
• The Universities of Glasgow, Sheffield, Swansea, and King’s College London will lead the centre’s work.

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The new Gambling Harms Research UK Evidence Centre launches after years of widespread concern over weak evidence, industry influence, and limited research capacity in gambling harm policy.

A consortium from the Universities of Glasgow, Sheffield, Swansea, and King’s College London will operate the centre. DCMS announced the launch on Thursday, while UK Research and Innovation will deliver funding via a portion of the government-run statutory levy.

Independent Evidence Is the Top Priority

Funding from the levy gives the project full scale and capacity from day one. UKRI will use its 20% share of the Gambling Levy to support the centre, which equals £22.1 million for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. Earlier in 2025, the levy also allocated £25.4 million to gambling harm prevention organizations.

The centre will research gambling harm across a range of areas: public health, policy, sport, online gambling, video-game gambling, financial data, algorithms, and structural risk factors. It will also coordinate 19 Innovation Partnerships under the GHR-UK framework.

Professor Heather Wardle, director of the centre and professor of gambling research and policy at the University of Glasgow, stated:

“For far too long, gambling research has been under-resourced and overlooked.

“New funding through the levy and UKRI marks a vital reset for the field, strengthening the quality and scale of gambling harms research and ensuring policy is driven by rigorous, independent evidence.”

UKRI reports that harmful gambling costs the UK economy around £1.4 billion every year. It has also linked gambling harm to increased public health pressure, higher criminal justice costs, depression, and suicide.

Independence stands as the core of the project. In April 2025, gambling harm researchers warned Parliament about past industry influence over research funding and priority-setting. Wardle also told the health and social care committee that earlier research often reflected research questions and viewpoints shaped by the gambling sector itself.

Lived experience of harm will also guide the centre’s work. Martin Jones, a campaigner and charity worker who has experienced a gambling-related suicide in his family, will serve as the centre’s lived-experience lead. He said:

“Research is not just an abstract intellectual exercise that exists in isolation.

“It is, and should be, closely connected to the real gambling harms that affect real people.

“We need to do far more to prevent these harms, and coordinating top-tier research will support this goal, especially as we explore more complex areas like suicide, algorithms, and financial data.”

The centre is part of a broader UKRI Research Programme focused on gambling. That programme already includes 32 rapid evidence reviews, 19 Innovation Partnerships, and four UKRI policy fellows. UKRI also plans to allocate additional funding for topics such as the overlap between gambling and video gaming.