Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to
support the Gambling Commission to address problem gambling.
(Lab)
My Lords, the Gambling Commission reports—
Noble Lords
Oh!
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport () (Con)
I thought maybe I was going to get two Questions in one.
My Lords, we are committed to reducing gambling-related harm and
we are working closely with the Gambling Commission to do that.
We have strengthened many protections in the last year, cutting
stakes on FOBTs, tightening online age and identity checks, and
announcing a ban on credit card gambling. We are carefully
considering the recent recommendations from the National Audit
Office and we have committed to review the Gambling Act to make
sure that it is fit for the digital age.
My Lords, I apologise for rushing my Question. The Gambling
Commission reports that the number of problem gamblers is now
430,000—an increase of more than 100,000 since 2012—and that the
number in danger now exceeds 2.3 million, including 11.5% of
those who use machines in bookmakers’ premises: a 50% increase
since 2012. In addition to any measures to control the industry,
what steps will the Government take to inform and reach out to
members of the public, especially those at risk, and to ensure
that support, including medical support where relevant, is
available to them?
There are a number of elements in the noble Lord’s question. On
the number of problem gamblers, he is quite right that it has
become much easier to gamble and there is a lot of sponsorship
and advertising around gamblers. The percentage of problem and
at-risk gamblers has actually stayed very stable over the years,
but the Government have a manifesto commitment to review the
Gambling Act to make sure that it is fit for the digital age. The
noble Lord will be aware that significant investment is being
made through the NHS in specialist treatment clinics for problem
gamblers.
(Con)
My Lords, gambling addicts can accumulate a significant amount of
debt and in order to pay it off, they are sometimes taking out
personal loans and credit cards. What are the Government doing by
way of working with the banks and financial institutions to
identify and address the issue and curb this, as it is
increasing? I declare an interest as the chairman of the
Financial Ombudsman Service.
I thank my noble friend for her question. On the risk of problem
gambling, all operators will have to join GAMSTOP, the one-stop
online self-exclusion scheme that will come into effect at the
end of this month. As she will be aware, the Government announced
the banning of credit card gambling, which is extremely important
because less than 1% of the population are problem gamblers but
22% of credit card gamblers were found to be so. I look forward
to talking to my noble friend more about what else we can do in
relation to the financial services industry.
My Lords, at a time when the NHS is facing such unbelievable
pressures from the coronavirus, it is also having to set up 14
gambling clinics across the country to try to deal with this
situation. The industry has a gross gambling yield of £14 billion
a year. Is it not time to bring in a statutory levy, so that the
polluter pays for the damage being caused?
I thank the right reverend Prelate for his suggestion. There are
currently no plans to introduce a statutory levy. As he will be
aware, the gambling companies make a major contribution of about
£3 billion in tax. The concerns around a statutory levy would be
the same for gambling as for tobacco or alcohol, which also carry
huge health risks, so there are no current plans to proceed with
that.
(LD)
My Lords, the NAO recognises that the Gambling Commission is a
small body struggling to keep up with a fast-changing industry,
but surely there are some things it could be doing. For example,
an increasing amount of gambling is taking place online, which is
a growing issue for problem gamblers; yet although we have stakes
and prize limits for land-based gambling products, there are none
for similar online products. Can the Minister explain why not?
I cannot explain why not today, but consideration will be given
as to whether that is in scope of the legislative review. As I
said, one of our tasks is to ensure that the legislation is
completely relevant for the digital age.
(Lab)
My Lords, first, I echo what the right reverend Prelate has said
about a levy. We must steel ourselves to the outcry from the
gambling industry, and just do it. It has to pay for all the
costs that have been transferred to the NHS, and that is that. It
is time that the Government expressed a degree of urgency on that
question. Secondly, last week the National Audit Office report
concluded:
“The Gambling Commission is a small regulator in a challenging
and dynamic industry”
and is
“constrained by factors outside its control”.
Can the Government strengthen this small regulator and give it
teeth and a course of action that will lead to better regulation
from within the industry, rather than us tiresomely having to
bring these concerns again and again to the attention of the
House?
I am sorry to repeat myself but clearly, our review of the Act,
about which there is great urgency, is a key part of this. We
work closely with the commission to ensure that it has the
funding it needs in the way that it needs it, in order to fulfil
its task. We recognise that its principal focus recently has been
on the regulation of online gambling, which is more complicated
and resource-intensive. The Government are absolutely open to
discussing suggestions from the commission to improve its
position.
