Glasgow City Council has secured £3.44 million in statutory gambling levy funding to expand a citywide public health programme aimed at preventing and reducing gambling-related harm over the next three years.
The funding will support The Glasgow Project between 2026 and 2029, building on earlier work involving the council, health services, community organisations and other partners. The programme will focus on prevention, education, financial support and targeted interventions in parts of the city where exposure to gambling is particularly high.
The investment comes amid concerns about the scale of gambling harm in Glasgow. A council report prepared for its Wellbeing, Equalities, Communities, Culture and Engagement City Policy Committee estimates that gambling-related harm creates an annual fiscal cost of more than £15 million in the city — the highest estimated figure in Scotland.
The same report states that 42% of Glasgow’s betting shops are located in the city’s most deprived quintile. Officials also highlighted the rapid growth of online gambling and links between harmful gambling and problems including debt, poor mental health, family breakdown and suicide risk.
Glasgow Project to broaden prevention work
The Glasgow Project originated from work carried out by the Glasgow Gambling Harms Group, which developed a whole-system model rather than treating gambling problems solely as an issue for specialist treatment services.
Earlier activity included awareness campaigns, attempts to reduce stigma, gambling-risk education for younger people, peer-led initiatives and training for frontline workers. Eight community projects serving priority groups were also supported through a small-grants programme.
The new funding will significantly expand that approach.
Gambling harm education is set to become more firmly embedded in schools and youth services, while Glasgow’s Youth Health Service will receive additional capacity to assist young people developing gambling-related problems.
A specialist financial inclusion service is also planned for people dealing with gambling-related debt. Training will be provided to workers across health, community and public services, while people with lived experience of gambling harm will be involved in the programme’s development.
Another part of the strategy will concentrate investment in three neighbourhoods with particularly high densities of gambling premises and other potentially harmful commercial outlets. Community organisations will also be able to access a new small-grants programme.
For 2026-27, priorities include recruiting staff for the prevention team, restoring the city’s multi-agency Gambling Harms Partnership Group, establishing performance indicators and an evaluation framework, expanding specialist youth services and beginning the rollout of workforce training.
Statutory levy funds wider Scottish response
The money comes from Britain’s statutory gambling levy, which took effect in April 2025 and replaced the industry’s previous voluntary funding arrangements. Licensed operators are required to make contributions, with the Gambling Commission responsible for collecting and administering the levy under UK government direction. Revenue is ring-fenced for gambling-harm research, prevention and treatment.
Scotland was allocated £7.9 million from the levy for gambling-harm initiatives announced in March 2026. The Scottish Government said the money would fund prevention, early intervention and treatment through NHS organisations, local authorities and voluntary-sector groups. It estimated that more than 90,000 Scottish adults could be experiencing problem gambling.
Other levy-supported organisations in Scotland include Public Health Scotland, Citizens Advice Scotland, RCA Trust, Simon Community Scotland, Fast Forward and Gambling with Lives. Funding is also being directed towards projects addressing the links between gambling harm, mental health and suicide prevention.
Glasgow’s expanded programme therefore forms part of a wider shift toward treating gambling harm as a population-health issue, with greater emphasis on prevention and intervention through services people already use rather than relying exclusively on specialist treatment after serious problems have developed.