Key takeaways
- The Gambling Commission (UK) reports that nearly half of adults in Great Britain gambled in the past four weeks, according to the latest Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB),
- Land-based gambling still plays a major role: the industry generated £16.8 billion in gross gambling yield (GGY) to March 2025, with 8,234 premises in operation including 5,825 betting shops and 1,451 adult gaming centres (AGCs),
- The Commission calls for a stronger partnership with local authorities (“co-regulators”) to maintain safety, accountability and compliance warning that regulation gaps remain when local inspections drop,
- A recent consultation on gaming machine standards part of the 2023 Gambling Act 2005 Review commitments could bring new protections: time and stake limits, clearer social responsibility, and standardised testing across devices.
Ian Angus's Speech at the 2025 Conference
Ian Angus, the Gambling Commission's Director of Policy, gave the keynote speech at the Institute of Licensing (IoL) Annual Conference on November 27, 2025. Angus stressed in his address how important it is for national and local authorities to work together to keep gaming "safer, fairer, and crime-free."
He started by talking about the most recent GSGB statistics, which comes from a poll of about 20,000 persons and reveals that gambling is still very common. Almost 48% of adults said they had gambled in some way in the four weeks before the study. Online gambling was more popular than in-person gambling by 38% to 29%. Most of the difference came from people buying lottery tickets online. When lottery tickets were not included, in-person gambling (18%) was marginally more popular than online gambling (16%).
Angus talked about the most popular activities: the national lottery (31%), charity lotteries (16%), and scratchcards (13%). At the same time, 11% had put bets and 5% had used slot machines or fruit machines in the recent four weeks.
Angus talked on the gambling industry as a whole. He said that for the year ending March 2025, overall GGY reached £16.8 billion, with £4.8 billion coming from land-based businesses such betting shops, arcades, bingo halls, and casinos. In Great Britain, there are 8,234 operational gaming establishments. This number is a little drop from previous years.
Local Governments as Partners, Not Bystanders
One of the main points of Angus's speech was how important local authorities (LAs) are. The Gambling Act 2005 gives both national and municipal regulators the power to issue licenses and enforce the law. The Commission made it clear that it does not want to take over local responsibilities; rather, it wants to help and work together.
However, the most recent Licensing Authority Returns showed troubling trends: over one-third of LAs did not check gaming establishments between April 2024 and March 2025, with a 94% return rate from 329 out of 350 councils. There were 2,208 inspections in total, down from 3,203 in 2019/20.
The Commission says that if local authorities exercise all of their current powers, it will not only safeguard the public, but it will also make the argument for any future changes to local government powers stronger.
Regulatory Reform and the Future of Gaming Machines
Angus also gave an update on work that has come out of the 2023 Gambling Act Review White Paper. This summer, a survey on new technological standards for gaming machines came to an end. The recommendations included establishing limits on time and money, improving communications to consumers, and combining existing standards. More than 1,000 people answered.
The Gambling Commission plans to release its results and future steps in early 2026. At the same time, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) is asking for feedback on changes to stakes and rewards for some machines and looking into new licensing categories that make it easier to tell the difference between AGCs and bingo halls.
Recent historic decisions, including Sheffield City Council's 2024 ruling that upheld its refusal to award a new AGC licence, have also changed the regulatory landscape. This shows that local discretion can still be important even when laws don't alter.
Role of Local Enforcement
The speech makes it clear that gambling is still a big part of British society and economy. With almost half of adults playing frequently and a large land-based sector making billions in GGY, it is important to keep an eye on and regulate the games.
But the fact that there are fewer inspections in the area makes people worry about how consistent and strict the rules are. Angus made it clear that national data can only tell us so much; for regulation to work, people in the community need to be involved.
Also, the ongoing changes to gaming machine rules could change how land-based venues work and how customers interact with gambling, all in the name of making it safer and better protecting people who are at risk.
Preparing for New Gaming Machine Regulations
The gaming Commission made it clear at the 2025 IoL Annual Conference that gaming is still a big part of British life, but it can only stay secure, fair, and free of criminality if there is coordinated regulation. As the gaming industry changes, especially with new rules for gaming machines coming soon, it will be more important than ever for national and local authorities to work together. The next year will probably be quite important for how gambling is run in the UK.