Qualitative Research in Land-Based Premises

Introduction and Background

The Gambling Commission is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. The Commission is responsible for issuing personal gambling licences for individuals and gambling operating licences for businesses operating in Great Britain and we are responsible for ensuring all licensed gambling is conducted subject to the following licensing objectives:

• preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime
• ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way
• protecting children and other vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

In January 2025, we published a consultation which proposed changes to our requirements on licensees, through the Gaming Machine Technical Standards (GMTS), Gaming Machine Testing Strategy (testing strategy) and the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP). This was in connection with the commitment in the April 2023 Gambling Act Review White Paper (*1) that set out that: “The Gambling Commission will conduct a review of its gaming machine technical standards. The review will include an assessment of the role of session limits across category B and C machines and the role of safer gambling tools. The review will consider the effects of any legislative change following the Gambling Act Review and, where appropriate, will consolidate the progress made so far by the industry on a voluntary basis.” In January 2026, we set out our position in relation to our proposal to introduce a licence condition to more effectively address non-compliant gaming machines (*2). The new licence condition came into effect on 29 July 2026. Our September response (*3) sets out our position in relation to all other proposals within the consultation published in January 2025. In line with fulfilling our 2024-2027 corporate strategy which includes evaluating the GAR White Paper commitments we are responsible for, the Commission will be conducting an evaluation of the changes arising from the consultation. As part of this evaluation, we are looking to procure qualitative research in land-based premises to be carried out between April 2027 and January 2029. We envisage this will be delivered across 2 or 3 waves of fieldwork. The first wave of fieldwork will be a pilot study to collect baseline data after the session definition is introduced, and to test the feasibility of the methodology; this data collection must be carried out after 30 March 2027 and be completed by 29 June 2027. The pilot study will also be an opportunity to trial approaches for the full fieldwork, to be carried out post-implementation from 30 June 2027 and should be used to inform the wider project’s design. Land-based fieldwork in gambling premises presents an exciting opportunity for the Commission to explore an often-underutilised methodology within gambling research; capturing the experiences and behaviours of consumers, and staff, of the policy changes in real-time and in live environments. This kind of data collection is especially powerful as it partly mitigates limitations of other qualitative approaches, such as surveys or remote interviews, which rely on consumer recall and accurate self-report. Ethnographic, fieldwork-based approaches can utilise in-person interviews or questionnaires and also incorporate methods such as observation in order to gain a more rounded view of participant experiences. We also welcome innovative or new approaches within relevant disciplines. Please note: This project will collect data to be triangulated within the Gaming Machine evaluation, it will not be carrying out evaluation itself or producing evaluation-related outputs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Purpose of the Engagement:

• Understand market capability to provide expertise and specialist research in land-based gambling across Great Britain; with a focus on qualitative and ethnographic methods within live, public environments that engage members of the public.
• Explore indicative cost models for the pilot study and full fieldwork

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Description of Requirements:

Expertise and experience - Suppliers should have demonstratable experience with relevant methodologies, and past experience of delivering successful public-facing fieldwork in Great Britain in gambling, retail or hospitality premises. Especially strong bids would have experience conducting fieldwork in different contexts across multiple locations. Research requirements - Methodologies should be drawn from qualitative and ethnographic approaches and aim to capture consumer experiences and behaviour, in addition to staff experiences, relating to the policy changes; this could include interviews, questionnaires, and observational data, as examples. More innovative and original methodologies in the field are welcome; especially surrounding ethnographies, play-based research, place-based approaches, and research that has explored experiences of gaming machines. For example, methods could explore the experience of, and feelings about, limit setting functionality (Proposal 4) (*4) and its potential impact on consumer play. Depending on the chosen methodological approaches, relevant ethical approval(s) will need to be in place that follow the Commission’s Research Governance Framework (*5); including any relevant guidelines for conducting gambling research with human participants. Locations of premises included in the fieldwork should span city and rural areas; with geographical diversity in mind across England, Wales and Scotland; for example, covering city centre to costal locations. Researchers should also anticipate some fieldwork occurring outside of regular working hours, in order to capture different times of day and levels of business in relevant venues. There are four types of premises affected by the policy changes, and these should all be included in the research approach: Types of premises included in the fieldwork should include: - Casino - Adult Gaming Centre (AGC) - Bingo; this would include more traditional Bingo Clubs as well as high street Bingo premises - Betting Exact numbers of venues will vary depending on the methodological approach. We expect the pilot to cover less venues than the full fieldwork. The full fieldwork would ideally include 2 separate waves of data collection. In more detail, the approximate number of venues the pilot & full fieldwork would include: Please note this is anticipating an even split between Casino, AGC, Bingo and Betting premises.

• Minimum: 16 venues
• Expected: 24 venues
• Ideal: 32 + venues

These figures should be used to inform estimated minimum, expected and ideal costings. In addition to venue coverage, ideal, expected and minimum participant sampling numbers would be established in project set up and explored via the Pilot Study to ensure a diversity of perspectives are captured; including identities that are often under-represented in gambling research.

Deliverables -

Data will be shared in clear, appropriately anonymised formats. A short report accounting the methodological approach, ethics, and any lessons learned for the Commission, would also be produced for internal use and to inform the wider Gaming Machine evaluation. The vendor must comply with all relevant legislation, including data protection (GDPR) legislation. Timescale - The project will have natural periods of intensity and pause due to implementation timelines. Vendors would need to be able to deliver fieldwork in windows across 2027 to early 2029. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Links to sources:

(*1) Gambling Act Review White Paper - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-stakes-gambling-reform-for-the-digital-age

(*2) January 2026 Response - https: //www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/consultation-response/january-2025-gaming-machine-consultation-part-1-response

(*3) September 2026 Response - https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/consultation-response/january-2025-consultation-on-proposed-changes-to-the-gmts-testing-strategy-and-lccp-consultation-response/related-documents-january-2025-gaming-machine-consultation-part-2-response (*4) Proposal 4 / September 2026 Response - https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/consultation-response/january-2025-consultation-on-proposed-changes-to-the-gmts-testing-strategy-and-lccp-consultation-response/proposal-4-gaming-machine-consultation-part-2-response (*5) The Commission's Research Governance Framework - https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/standards/research-governance-framework/data-accessibility-and-data-sharing-information-and-data-research-governance