TLDR Glasgow will get €4.02 million over three years from the UK’s new gambling levy The money will fund prevention work, financial support and staff training Betting shops are concentrated in Glasgow’s most deprived neighbourhoods Gambling harm reportedly costs Glasgow more than €17.55 million a year The new national levy is expected to raise around €117 million a year across the UK
Glasgow City Council will receive €4.02 million over the next three years to expand its response to gambling harm. The money comes from the UK’s new statutory gambling levy.
Some of the funding will go directly to neighbourhoods where betting shops are most common. Council leaders say this targeted approach reflects where the harm is actually happening.
The levy replaced a voluntary funding system that had been in place for years. It started in April 2025 and changed how gambling harm support is paid for across Britain.
Glasgow’s problem is bigger than many other Scottish cities. A recent report to the council’s Wellbeing, Equalities, Communities, Culture and Engagement Policy Committee put the yearly cost of gambling harm in Glasgow at more than €17.55 million.
That figure was the highest recorded anywhere in Scotland. It includes costs tied to health, debt and community support services.
There is also a clear pattern in where betting shops are located. Around 42% of Glasgow’s betting outlets sit in the city’s most deprived areas.
Because of this, the council plans to focus extra resources on three neighbourhoods with the highest concentration of betting shops. Officials say this is meant to reach people most exposed to harm rather than spreading support evenly across the city.
Where the Money Will Go
The funding will expand work already underway through The Glasgow Project, a local gambling harm prevention programme.
Plans include hiring more