DCMS’s UK Research and Innovation gambling unit seeks a chief to launch operations

(AsiaGameHub) –   UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has advanced plans to create its Gambling Research Programme and is searching for a department head to develop the initiative, which will be funded by the gambling statutory levy.

The role will involve overseeing the establishment of UKRI’s Research Programme on Gambling, which aims to address gambling harms through collaborative, evidence-led research.

Applications for the position are open until 13 April, consistent with the government’s earlier announcement that the department would launch in early 2026.

By the end of the first year, the head of the Gambling Research Programme is expected to have established the department as a “credible, trusted programme across the government and research community”, according to the job description.

Posted online last Sunday, the role is a 24-month fixed-term position and will be part of UKRI’s Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

The selected candidate will report to the AHRC’s associate director of the Research Programme on Gambling.

Wider aims of the statutory levy

The new head of the Research Programme on Gambling will provide “leadership, direction and momentum” for the initiative and decide how statutory levy funding should be allocated.

The Research Programme on Gambling is funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) via the sector’s statutory levy, which took effect on 6 April last year.

Twenty percent of the levy is directed to UKRI’s Research Programme on Gambling. Of the remaining funds, 30% goes toward strengthening gambling harm prevention efforts, while 50% is reserved for treatment and support services.

The statutory levy generated £120 million ($159.5 million) in the nine months since its implementation.

The levy applies to all UK-licensed operators, with rates varying based on the type of licence held. These range from 1.1% of gross gambling yield (GGY) for online operators and software licensees to 0.1% for family entertainment centres, pool betting licensees and machine technical licensees.

The Gambling Commission warned operators their licences could be revoked if they failed to pay the levy on time.

Statutory levy funding must be fair and unbiased

In May last year, Better Change founder Victoria Reed warned the statutory levy needed a robust governance framework to ensure its funding was well spent.

There has been industry discussion about how and where the levy will be used, particularly for research and supporting the gambling harms sector.

Gambling RET funding (research, education and treatment) was brought under government oversight as part of the gambling white paper and the broader statutory levy rollout.

Under the previous voluntary system, funds were distributed through GambleAware, which will cease operations by the end of this month due to the change.

Prominent researchers in the gambling harms sector had previously raised concerns that the industry held too much influence over research conducted under the prior funding model.