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Gambling: Licensing

Question for Department for Culture, Media and Sport

UIN HL359, tabled on 25 July 2024

To ask His Majesty's Government how much revenue the Treasury received from gambling operator application fees, operator annual licence fees, and personal licence fees in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, (3) 2021, (4) 2022, and (5) 2023.

Answered on

6 August 2024

HM Treasury receives no revenue from gambling operator application fees, operator annual licence fees, and personal licence fees. Licence fees are set by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, and are collected and utilised by the Gambling Commission to cover the costs of regulation.

The Gambling Commission may impose financial penalties on gambling operators if a licence condition has been breached. The Treasury receives income from financial penalties imposed by the Gambling Commission on operators. The total amount received in each of the last five financial years is detailed below:

2019-20

2020-21

2021-22

2022-23

2023-24

£2.0m

£13.2m

£21.7m

£20.9m

£7.1m

(Note: Due to reporting cycles, financial year is preferred to calendar year, with each period covering 1st April - 31st March).

In some circumstances, the Gambling Commission may agree a regulatory settlement in lieu of a financial penalty, which may include a financial element. Regulatory settlements are paid by an operator for socially responsible purposes and are not paid to the Exchequer. The Gambling Commission approves the destination of the financial element against set criteria. The destinations for regulatory settlements are published on the Gambling Commission’s website.