Gambling Commission sets out enforcement and priorities in annual report

The UK Gambling Commission has published its Annual Report and Accounts for 2024–25. This latest publication sets out how it has approached regulation during a year of ongoing reform. The document covers enforcement, compliance activity and internal priorities. There’s also a snapshot of how the regulator is adapting its operations.

With further changes expected as the Gambling Act Review continues to take shape, the report offers a useful reference point for how the Commission sees its role—and where its attention is likely to remain focused.

Enforcement and compliance activity in 2024–25

Enforcement was a focus throughout the reporting period. Over the year, the Commission carried out around 9,700 compliance assessments and took formal enforcement action against 24 operators. We note that this resulted in £4.2m in regulatory settlements and penalties.

While the overall value of penalties fell compared with the previous year, the Commission did not present this as a scaling back of scrutiny. Instead, it pointed to improving standards across parts of the sector.

As the  report puts it:

“With the penalties down on the year before, these are potentially positive indicators coming from the work that the Commission has been doing to raise standards of compliance with our rules and on the part of operators as well.” - Gambling Commission Annual Report and Accounts 2024-2025.

We note that the underlying focus remains unchanged. Social responsibility and anti-money laundering failings continue to attract the most attention. There’s a clear message that compliance needs to be embedded and ongoing. It’s not something to be addressed only after problems emerge.

Strategic priorities and data-led regulation

Beyond enforcement, the report sets out progress against the Commission’s current three-year corporate strategy. A recurring theme is the move toward more data-driven regulation. There was greater emphasis on early intervention and intelligence-led oversight.

A key development during the year was the continued rollout of the Gambling Survey for Great Britain. The Commission positions this as a source of its future evidence base. The aim is to improve how gambling behaviour and harm are measured, and to use that data to influence regulatory decisions. Already this month, there are new bonus rules operators must adhere to.

From our perspective, this signals a regulator that wants to act earlier and more selectively. It’s not about relying solely on reactive enforcement after failures have already occurred.

Funding pressures and future outlook

The report also touches on the practical pressures facing the regulator itself. Expanded enforcement activity, new data programmes and the wider reform agenda have all increased operational demands. As a result, preparations for a future statutory levy continue, with the intention of replacing the current voluntary funding system for research, education and treatment.

Looking ahead, the report offers little indication of a softening of regulatory expectations. Instead, the Commission frames the coming period as one of consolidation, where recent reforms are fully embedded and oversight becomes more proactive. For licensed operators, the takeaway is familiar. Compliance, accountability and consumer protection remain at the centre of the regulatory framework.