Leading UK gambling specialists have criticised the apparent bias of the UK’s new £22m facility dedicated to gambling research, warning “those leading the research have already announced the conclusions they wanted.”
The Gambling Harms Research UK Evidence Centre is funded by the mandatory levy and proudly states its independence from industry involvement, however the programme appears not to acknowledge the experience of the majority of recreational gamblers.
“It promises independence and evidence-led inquiry, but the director of its flagship evidence centre has already publicly stated that supporting a legal gambling market and reducing harm are irreconcilable” said Vaughan Lewis, MD of TEISE Advisory.
“Its lived experience lead has stated he hopes the research will justify removing the legislative foundation for regulated gambling. Both positions were articulated before a single study was commissioned.”
Noting that the remit covers “gambling harms, not gambling,” Lewis said “the lived experience framework counts only experience of harm. There are no equivalent safeguards against ideological
capture.”
Andrew Tottenham, MD of international gaming consultants Tottenham and Co, added “the new statutory levy-funded research ecosystem isn’t independent inquiry but advocacy with a peer-review process.The industry is excluded and any positive or neutral consumer experience is absent.”
“The ‘lived experience’ framework apparently only qualifies if that experience involved harm, which leaves 22 million recreational gamblers unrepresented in research nominally about them.”
Originally published on Coinslot on June 8, 2026. Republished with permission.