Horserace Betting Levy Board

FINANCIAL OVERVIEW

Final statutory Levy yield for 2023/24 was £105m and the Board agreed a budget for 2024/25.

FIXTURE LIST INITIATIVES 2024 UPDATE

The Board discussed an update on the early impacts of the new fixture list initiatives for 2024, recognising that there was a two-year trial in place.

PRIZE MONEY FUNDING AND RACEDAY SERVICES GRANTS

The Board approved funding for the following in 2025:

• The Sunday Appearance Scheme
• The Divided Race Fund
• The Winter Jumps Fund
• Increasing the ceiling of HBLB funding for additional Jump fixtures

The Board confirmed that a proposal for continuing Programme Protection Payments would have to be made anew for 2025.

The Board agreed to treat Easter Saturday as a bank holiday for funding purposes and that Racing should work with HBLB on how to improve the quality of racing on this day.

The Board agreed in principle to an inflationary increase in Raceday Services Grants in 2025 on a one-off basis, given that a major review of regulation and integrity funding was underway. The findings of that work would inform grants for 2026 and beyond.

FOLLOW-UP NON-FIXTURE GRANT APPLICATIONS

The Board agreed a number of funding decisions to non-fixture funding areas of Racing which would be publicised in the autumn with more details of grants   

NON-FIXTURE GRANTS PROCESS REVIEW AND PROPOSALS

Agreed the following:

• Proposals to move the funding round to coincide with the calendar year from 2026 onwards.
• Proposals for multi-year funding to commence after January 2026.
• To postpone the introduction of a secondary round of funding until after January 2026, if at all.
• The introduction of an in-person workshop to support grant writing bids.
• Further work for exploring options on setting a fixed budget for non-fixture grants.
• Further consideration be given to the people/training provider applications being submitted directly to HBLB.

NON-WEIGHING ROOM LOANS 2024-2026

Agreed the following with respect to additional windows for non-weighing room loans:

• That a financial ceiling should not be applied, at this stage, per individual racecourse for a total value of loans from HBLB in order to mitigate any financial risk to HBLB.
• That a new window be opened in September 2024 to December 2024 with a total funding offered of £2m.
• That a new window be opened at some point between summer and autumn 2025 and communicated to racecourses at the time of announcing the 2024 window, but the amount available would be decided in 2025.

More information at https://www.hblb.org.uk/release/711

HBLB STAKEHOLDER SURVEY 2: RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

The Board considered the results of the second stakeholder survey on external views of HBLB and agreed that overall these were positive results that reflected well on the organisation’s transparency and efforts to build trust.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REPORT

HBLB had successfully renewed its Cyber Essentials Plus certification.

Racecourse attendances would now be uploaded once a month to the public website.

The Board approved appointments to the Veterinary Advisory Committee.

EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION POLICY

The Board approved the HBLB Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy.

CAPITAL CREDITS GRANT APPLICATION: TAUNTON

The Board approved a Capital Credits Grant to Taunton towards the installation of boreholes and a new trot up area, re-siting of the loading ramp and the building of a new Syndicate Owners’ Suite.

ALLOCATIONS TO CAPITAL CREDITS 1 JULY TO 20 SEPTEMBER 2024

The Board approved the Raceday Services transfers to Capital Credits for the period 1 July to 30 September 2024.

The Board approved transfers to Capital Credits of additional requests made subsequently by racecourses for specified prize money-related grants yet to be awarded but which would be allocated at a later date for the period 1 July 2024 to 30 September 2024. These included Ratecard, Divided Races, IPM and Sunday Appearance Money.

MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTS

The Board approved the Management Accounts to 31 March 2024.