Gambling Commission closes Advisory Board for Safer Gambling
Summary
Great Britain’s Gambling Commission has announced it will close the Advisory Board for Safer Gambling (ABSG) after the body “completed its original remit”. Set up in 2008, the ABSG spent 17 years advising the regulator on reducing gambling harms and helped embed lived-experience voices in regulation, including support for the Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP).
The Commission says the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms has delivered its key milestones and that new arrangements, better aligned with the next phase of research and regulation, will be established. The move follows the introduction of a statutory levy that shifts research and prevention funding from the voluntary model (GambleAware) to government-appointed healthcare bodies. With levy funding secured, the regulator plans a new research-focused expert group to guide expanded research programmes.
Key Points
- ABSG will close after “completing its original remit”; it operated since 2008 (17 years).
- The board helped reframe gambling harms as a public health issue and supported the creation of LEAP.
- The National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms is declared to have met its key milestones.
- Introduction of a statutory levy shifts research and prevention funding from GambleAware to government-appointed national healthcare bodies.
- The Gambling Commission plans a new research-focused expert group funded by the statutory levy.
- GambleAware will halt activities and transition work to the government by end of March 2026.
Context and relevance
This is a notable governance and funding shift in UK gambling policy. The closure signals a move away from long-standing voluntary-sector arrangements (GambleAware and advisory structures) towards a statutory, state-led approach to research and prevention. For operators, policy teams and researchers, this alters who commissions and oversees evidence and may change research priorities, funding routes and stakeholder access to policy forums.
The changes are part of broader regulatory reforms in the UK: expect new research programmes, different expert advisory arrangements and a reconfiguration of how lived experience is routed into policy. If you work in compliance, public health, research or industry lobbying, this affects where you direct evidence, partnership requests and funding conversations.
Why should I read this?
Short version: big shake-up. The groups that used to steer research and prevention are being folded into a statutory system — so who you talk to, who funds studies and where policy decisions get made are all changing. If you work in UK gambling, public health or research, this saves you time — read it so you know where the next conversations will happen.
