Horserace Betting Levy Board

The Horserace Betting Levy Board has today released its 2017/18 Annual Report.  

Paul Lee, in his Chairman’s Statement, notes that:

• The new Horserace Betting Levy Regulations, which came into force in April 2017, have been implemented successfully.
• Total income increased to £95m in 2017/18 from £65m in 2016/17. 
• Reserves increased to £46m at March 2018 from £25m the previous year.
• The Board has been able to increase expenditure in calendar year 2018.
• It remains Government policy to abolish the organisation at the end of March 2019, with its collection function to be carried out by the Gambling Commission and distribution by the newly created Racing Authority.
• The Board will do its utmost to seek to ensure a smooth transition to the new arrangements, the introduction of which are subject to the passing of legislation.
• Although the issue of the abolition of the Board has been ongoing for over three years, resulting in a challenging situation for the organisation, staff have continued to carry out their duties with excellence.
• The Board’s administrative expenditure fell once again.

The Report describes the Board’s activity for the past financial year and includes the audited accounts for that period.

It also notes that, among the additional allocations to expenditure in calendar year 2018, the total prize money budget was set at £57.6m, a substantial rise on the £48.3m of 2017. This increase was driven by the rise in Levy income from the reforms of 2017.