Guidance

Gambling Levy Programme Board: Terms of Reference

Published 18 December 2025

1. Purpose and role

The purpose of the Gambling Levy Programme Board (the Board) is to act as the central oversight mechanism for the levy system. As per section 123 of the Gambling Act 2005, the Secretary of State for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and HM Treasury must consent to the expenditure of the levy. However, it is recognised that areas of levy spend span multiple departmental boundaries and so it is right that there is a forum for stakeholders to monitor the progress and performance of the levy together.

As such, the Board brings together key UK government departments and representatives from the Scottish and Welsh Governments to ensure relevant commissioning bodies are delivering on the government’s aims to improve and expand research, prevention and treatment of gambling-related harm. The Board is independent of the Delivery Group. However, evidence and advice provided by the Group will be used to fulfil the Board’s objective.

Headline objective: The Board has collective responsibility for monitoring the overall functioning and health of the levy system and the delivery of objectives and commissioning priorities in the distribution of the levy. It does not have responsibility for decisions on a detailed programme of expenditure which is a matter for the commissioning bodies DCMS has appointed.

The role of the Board is to:

• oversee the development of KPIs by relevant commissioning bodies for them to ensure sufficient evaluation and assessment of value for money is being undertaken each year
• ensure funding is allocated appropriately and fairly across the research, prevention and treatment strands, and across Great Britain in line with the statutory framework
• provide a recommendation for the distribution of levy funds for commissioning bodies, in terms of the percentage split for research, prevention and treatment
• approve final draft of the Annual Levy Report

2. Board membership and composition

2.1 Membership

The Board is chaired by the Director for Sport and Gambling at DCMS, as DCMS is the responsible department for the implementation of the statutory gambling levy. The Deputy Chair is the Deputy Director for Gambling and Lotteries at DCMS.

The membership of the Board can be found in Annex A.

Membership of the Board includes official level representation from key UK government departments and representatives from the Scottish and Welsh Governments involved within the levy system. Further detail on each organisation’s role within the levy system can be found in Annex B.

Members of the Board have been appointed due to their role within the levy system, rather than in their personal capacity. When a member leaves their role, they will cease to be a member of LPB and their successor will be appointed to the Board in their place. DCMS will continue to monitor and revise membership if necessary.

The Board makes every effort to come to unanimous recommendations for the distribution of levy funds (the percentage split across research, prevention and treatment). In the event that they cannot, DCMS and HMT as the departments with formal approval powers will adjudicate.

2.2 Roles and responsibilities

The roles and responsibilities of all Board members are as follows:

• Consider evidence submitted by commissioning leads regarding general progress on spending and commissioning decisions.
• Contribute to defining clear objectives for the system and assessing whether the system is delivering against objectives developed by commissioning leads.
• Consider all available advice and evidence when making decisions on funding allocations.
• Inform and advise on any identified risks, including those escalated by the Delivery Group and those that cross-cut multiple areas of the system, with an aim to minimise or mitigate these risks.
• Consider and approve the Annual Levy Report published by DCMS.
• Ensure at least one representative from their organisation is in attendance.

Members of the Board have also been asked to complete a declaration of interest form which will be registered in a central register by the Secretariat. Any members with conflicts of interest for specific agenda items will recuse themselves from the discussion.

2.3 Deputies

Members are expected to prioritise attendance at board meetings above all other commitments to ensure that there is representation from each relevant organisation.

In exceptional circumstances, a deputy may attend in a board member’s place provided that the Secretariat has been notified and it has been agreed with the Chair.

2.4 Additional attendees

In addition to the core membership detailed above, where appropriate, other government representatives from the relevant departments and devolved administrations are able to attend meetings with approval from the Chair.

The DCMS Secretariat attends each meeting to help facilitate the meeting and to maintain an accurate record of the conversation.

2.5 Quoracy

As a general rule, the Board is quorate when at least one representative from each organisation (DCMS, HM Treasury, DSIT, DHSC, Scottish Government, Welsh Government) is present. However, the Chair can take the decision to cancel a meeting if they are not content with attendee numbers, or can elect to proceed even if the Board is not quorate.

Nominated deputies count towards quoracy of the board, provided they have been agreed with the Chair as a suitable deputy.

2.6 Review of membership

Membership of the Board may be subject to change as the levy system develops. Any changes to the membership of the Board must be discussed with existing members and approved by the Chair.

3. Meetings : Operations and administration

3.1 Frequency and format

Members are expected to meet once a quarter, with meetings lasting up to 2 hours. Meetings are hybrid, with an option for in-person attendance at DCMS’s 100 Parliament Street office. As a general rule, meetings occur at least one month following Delivery Group meetings, to ensure that there is sufficient time for papers and other relevant items to be escalated if necessary.

3.2 Agenda

The Secretariat develops the meeting agendas in consultation with members and agreement with the Chair, and shares with members ahead of time. Members can expect the Secretariat to share the agenda with them in good time prior to meetings.

3.3 Papers

The Secretariat provides an agenda and any supporting papers at least 5 working days ahead of meetings. Supporting papers include:

i. Actions log

ii. Minutes from previous Levy Board meeting

iii. Minutes from the Delivery Group meeting

iv. Any additional papers where necessary

3.4 Minutes

The Secretariat takes minutes of the meeting and circulates them to the Board within 10 working days. They are also shared for formal sign-off at the following Board meeting.

4. Memoranda of Understanding

Any Memoranda of Understanding agreed between departments and/or commissioning leads will be supervised by the Board to ensure its terms are being fulfilled.

5. Review of the Terms of Reference

These Terms of Reference were agreed at the first Board meeting, subject to a majority vote. Thereafter, the Terms of Reference can be reviewed and revised as required.

Annex A: list of members of the Levy Board

Title	Organisation	Role	Term
Director for Sport and Gambling	DCMS	Chair	Permanent
Deputy Director for Gambling and Lotteries	DCMS	Deputy Chair	Permanent
Head of Sport and Gambling Analysis	DCMS	Member	Permanent
Deputy Director, Finance Business Partners	DCMS	Member	Permanent
Head of Finance Business Partnering for Sport, Civil Society and Visitor Economy	DCMS	Member	Permanent
DCMS Spending Principal	HM Treasury	Member	Permanent
UKRI Sponsorship Team	DSIT	Member	Permanent
Director for Health Improvement	DHSC	Member	Permanent
Head of Tobacco, Gambling, Diet and Healthy Weight Unit	Scottish Government	Member	Permanent
Director, Public Health Directorate	Welsh Government	Member	Permanent

Annex B: Levy Board member organisations and roles

Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)

• DCMS is the lead department on gambling policy and is the responsible department for the implementation of the statutory gambling levy.
• As per section 123 of the Gambling Act 2005, the Secretary of State for DCMS has powers to provide final approval of funding allocation alongside HM Treasury.
• The minister responsible for gambling policy can carry out these functions on behalf of the Secretary of State.

HM Treasury

• HM Treasury is named in the Gambling Act 2005 as providing final approval of funding allocation alongside DCMS Secretary of State.
• Given the size of the programme, it is expected that following the first year of operations, HM Treasury involvement with the Levy Board will reflect a proportionate level of engagement.

Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)

• DHSC is the government lead on treatment and public health and is the parent department of the commissioning lead for treatment, NHS England. NHS England is expected to be brought back into DHSC in the future.
• The commissioning lead for prevention, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), sits within DHSC.
• DHSC are expected to attend Levy Board meetings in this dual capacity.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT)

• DSIT is the government lead for research and is the sponsoring department for the commissioning lead for research, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Devolved Scottish and Welsh governments

• Education and health policy are devolved matters.
• The devolved Scottish and Welsh governments are responsible for prevention and treatment spending in Scotland and Wales.