James Noyes questions UK gambling research levy funding oversight

Noyes doubted that the AHRC is the right body to commission gambling research. UKRI responded to a right of reply email.

Under the government's plan for levy-funded gambling harms work, 20% was allocated to research, equal to nearly £24m in its first year. The first funding wave commissioned £18m of research grants through UKRI, with the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) commissioning them.

James Noyes co-authored an influential Social Market Foundation paper in 2022, titled The Case for the Statutory Levy. The National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee had published reports in 2020 flagging problems with evidence quality and data.

He warned that the sheer sum, together with oversight by an arts and humanities research council, could draw in new entrants who lack policy understanding or economic and health expertise. In his view, some research already funded is trivial and adds nothing to the evidence base. He added that a flood of studies could blur the evidence base and make evidence-based policy making harder for government. He summed up his position: "The government needs quality, not quantity."

Noyes wants DCMS, DHSC, MHCLG and the Treasury to issue clear guidance on what research is needed to close gaps in the evidence. As examples, he named advertising's causal role in harm, how product types relate to socioeconomic disadvantage, and tax and price elasticity. Noyes said projects on gambling and sleep, or menstruation, are barely needed. He still backs the call for a levy and is glad a statutory system led by UKRI now exists.

UKRI said the interdisciplinary programme runs across all its constituent councils and disciplines, and the Arts and Humanities Research Council administers it. The funding body said applications go through competitive, independent peer review, with recommendations coming from subject experts in areas including economics and public health. Priorities for the programme were agreed in consultation with government departments and other levy commissioners. It added that finding and filling evidence gaps is a core aim, including studying under-represented groups and previously unexplored factors.