Gambling Commission Makes Final Call for Industry Proposals to Cut Regulatory Burdens

^{Victoria Square House in Birmingham, the Gambling Commission's headquarters. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)}

The Gambling Commission has issued a final call for operators to submit proposals to cut the administrative costs of complying with gambling regulation, with the window closing on 25 September 2026.

In the public consultation document, the regulator describes the call as a formal invitation, not a consultation, inviting the industry to flag rules or reporting requirements that no longer serve their intended purpose or could be streamlined. It builds on a commitment made in the Commission's Business Plan for 2026 to 2027 to review industry proposals that reduce regulatory administrative burdens.

What the Commission Will and Will Not Consider

The call covers any part of the regulatory landscape, from the Commission's own Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice to how multiple different requirements interact with each other and with wider legislation outside the regulator's remit. Operators can propose streamlining reporting processes, rationalising outdated guidance, or restructuring how requirements are communicated.

The Commission has ruled out two categories from the outset: live policy areas still subject to a formal consultation whose outcome has not been published, and measures from the 2023 white paper 'High Stakes: Gambling Reform for the Digital Age' that have not yet been fully evaluated. In the document, the regulator states that this call for proposals should not be used to propose new or additional regulatory requirements linked to the ongoing Gambling Act Review.

'We are committed to ensuring that the costs to the industry associated with compliance with gambling legislation and regulation, alongside the costs of demonstrating that compliance, remain proportionate to the risks to consumers,' the Commission said in the consultation document.

A Formal Process, Not a Blank Cheque

Proposals submitted through the online form must set out the current burden, the rationale for change against the three licensing objectives under the Gambling Act 2005, an implementation route and an assessment of industry costs. The Commission says any change that would replace or streamline its own controls could still need a full consultation before being implemented, and any decision to act will depend on available resources and business planning priorities.

The regulator gave an evaluation update on the wider Gambling Act Review for the casino industry earlier this year, and operators have separately reported rising compliance investment as UK firms professionalise at scale, context that suggests firms already have material to draw on for this call.

The Commission opened the call on 26 June 2026 and says it will discuss the topic further at its next Operators Engagement Forum. Proposals that fall outside its remit will be passed to the relevant government bodies, with the Commission offering to advise those organisations on viability where appropriate.

What Happens Next

With the deadline landing on 25 September, trade bodies and individual licence holders have one day left to file submissions through the Commission's Citizen Space portal. The regulator has not set a date for publishing its response, saying only that full consideration of proposals will be balanced against maintaining consumer protections under the Gambling Act 2005.

Any resulting changes would apply across licence types, from remote operators offering online casino bonuses to high street arcades, since the call was framed as covering the whole regulatory landscape rather than a single sector.