Following the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) consultation held between 27 January 2026 and 30 March 2026 on proposed changes to Gambling Commission operating licence fees, the Government has today released its response.
The consultation proposed three different options for an uplift to licence fees which were:
Option 1: A headline 30% increase to licence fees
Option 2: A headline 20% increase to licence fees
Option 3: A headline 20% increase to licence fees, plus a 10% increase ringfenced for illegal markets, revenue protection and related activity
The Government has confirmed that, following the responses received, it does not intend to proceed with any of the proposals and instead the following changes will be enacted:
A headline 25% increase to licence fees, with the exception of:
- Society lotteries, for which licence fees will be frozen;
- General betting (limited) operating licences, where the basis on which fees are set will be adjusted to a market share-based approach based on gross gambling yield (GGY) rather than the number of days of operation.
An increase of 25% for personal licences, supplementary operating licences and single machine permits.
An increase of 25% for applications to vary an operating licence and changes of corporate control.
The majority of respondents to the consultation favoured no increase at all, however the Government believes that an increase is necessary for the Gambling Commission to continue to address challenges of regulating the gambling market. A number of respondents also objected to providing any funding for tackling illegal gambling and recommended that this funding should come from central government departments. In the response, the Government has confirmed that the implementation of a 25% headline increase will not include ringfence requirements, as was proposed in Option 3. Instead, the Gambling Commission will develop its wider strategy to tackle illegal gambling following confirmation of £26 million additional funding over three years from HM Treasury.
The response confirms that while the overall headline increase to fees will be 25%, this will not be distributed evenly across all types of operating licences. The Government encourages Licensees to refer to Annexes One, Two and Three in the response for details of the fees which are proposed to take effect from 1 October 2026. These details can be found here.
For further information or queries, please feel free to contact any of our gambling solicitors on 0115 953 8500.
