The newly formed Gambling Policy Commission (GPC) opened an independent Gambling Act review on 9 November 2026, with a call for evidence that runs until 12 February 2027, according to The Guardian.
The commission will look at how the Gambling Act 2005, the law that governs gambling in Great Britain, has worked, measure the effect of the reforms that followed it and decide whether new primary legislation is needed. It plans to deliver its findings and recommendations before the next general election.
What the Gambling Act review covers
The GPC describes its work as an “independent, evidence-based assessment” of the current legal framework. It is asking for submissions from “all interested parties and individuals”.
Its terms of reference include “the special position of British horseracing” within gambling’s relationship with sport. That covers the statutory betting levy and media rights payments tied to betting turnover.
The commission is modelled on the review led by Sir Alan Budd and published in 2001. The Budd Report made 176 recommendations, and the government accepted most of them and wrote them into the 2005 Act. Online gambling has grown fast since then, and products such as prediction markets and cryptocurrencies have arrived.
The latest round of changes came out of the government’s April 2023 white paper, High Stakes: Gambling Reform for the Digital Age, which led to stake limits on online slots and a statutory levy on operators. Racing has contested parts of that package, with the British Horseracing Authority pressing the Gambling Commission over affordability checks on bettors.
The last comprehensive independent review of gambling legislation was undertaken a quarter of a century ago. Since then, both the gambling market and the wider technological environment have changed considerably.
Our purpose is to examine the evidence carefully and independently, to understand how the existing framework has operated, assess the impact of more recent reforms, and consider what legislative and regulatory framework will be appropriate for the years ahead.
We want to hear from people and organisations with experience, evidence and expertise across all sides of this debate.
Jagjit Chadha, Chair, Gambling Policy Commission
Who sits on the commission
Chadha is a professor of economics at Cambridge University. Dr James Reade, head of economics at Reading University, will be the GPC’s chief economist; he co-wrote a June 2026 report on the financial and cultural value of Ascot racecourse.
The other members include Peter Kellner, a commentator and former president of YouGov; Sir Anton Muscatelli, president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh; Professor Janet O’Sullivan, a legal academic; the football journalist Philippe Auclair; and Dr James Noyes, a gambling regulation specialist at the Social Market Foundation think tank.
Tom Savill, a director of Plumpton Racecourse, also sits on the commission. He co-wrote Securing Racing’s Future, a 2025 report on the sport’s finances. Racing has worked with operators on its future before: Flutter and the British Horseracing Authority published a joint strategy for British racing in February 2026.
Next steps
Submissions to the call for evidence close on 12 February 2027. The GPC will then prepare its findings and recommendations, due before the next general election. Operators, suppliers and racing bodies in the UK gambling market can respond until that date.
Source: Gambling Policy Commission
