UK Launches Largest Independent Gambling Harms Research Centre

The UK’s largest independent gambling harms research centre has officially launched. Backed by funding from the new statutory Gambling Levy, the centre will be overseen by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

The Gambling Harms Research UK (GHR-UK) Evidence Centre will lead research into the causes, prevention and treatment of gambling-related harm. The launch signals a significant shift away from the industry-funded research models that have dominated gambling harms research for years.

How Research Will Change Going Forwards

Research will be led by the University of Glasgow (alongside partners at King’s College London, the University of Sheffield and Swansea University). The centre will coordinate a national research programme, which will examine the social, economic and health impacts of gambling harms.

Professor Heather Wardle is Professor of Gambling Research and Policy at the University of Glasgow and lead of the new centre. She described the initiative as a ‘vital reset’ for gambling research in the UK and said:

‘For too long, gambling research has been under-resourced and overlooked. New funding through the Levy and UKRI marks a vital reset, strengthening the quality and scale of gambling harms research and ensuring policy is driven by rigorous, independent evidence.’

One of the centre’s key responsibilities will be overseeing 19 separate GHR-UK Innovation Partnerships. These partnerships cover wide ranging subjects including gambling harms in:

• Sport
• Online gambling
• Video games

The centre will also place significant emphasis on lived experience input. Martin Jones has been appointed as lived experience lead. He said research needed to remain connected to ‘real gambling harms affecting real people’, further adding that future research would not shy away from ‘more complex areas around suicide, algorithms, and financial data.’

The centre is a UK-first. There has never before been a gambling harms research body explicitly structured to operate without industry involvement. UKRI stresses that governance safeguards are in place to protect the integrity and independence of its findings.

How the Launch Sits Within the Current Landscape

According to UKRI, gambling harm costs the UK economy an estimated £1.4bn annually. This comes about through direct pressures on healthcare and the criminal justice system, as well as wider social harms including depression and suicide.

The launch also comes amid growing political focus on gambling reform following the rollout of measures outlined in the 2023 Gambling White Paper. Under the Gambling Levy system, operators now fund research, prevention and treatment through mandatory contributions rather than voluntary donations.

Research funding forms 20% of the mandatory levy allocation. The UKRI and the UK Gambling Commission are jointly responsible for distributing £22.1m during the 2025-26 period.

The creation of the centre signals a broader shift in how gambling policy may develop in future. Ministers and regulators seem to be increasingly relying on independently funded research rather than that commissioned, or supported by, the industry itself.