Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why their Veterans’ Strategy
Action Plan: 2022 to 2024, published on 19 January, makes no
reference to gambling addiction.
(LD)
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on
the Order Paper and draw attention to my interest as the chairman
of Peers for Gambling Reform.
The Minister of State, Cabinet Office () (Con)
My Lords, the action plan contains over 60 commitments worth over
£70 million and sets the direction for delivering for our
veterans between 2022 and 2024. It does not represent the limit
of the Government’s ambitions, and we continue to work across
government to address issues affecting veterans. We take gambling
seriously. Veterans can access a range of support, including via
the 24/7 Veterans’ Gateway, and the National Gambling Helpline
also gives advice to anyone affected by gambling problems in
England, Scotland and Wales.
(LD)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply, but, as in other
countries, recent research from the Forces in Mind Trust and the
Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund shows that the UK’s service
personnel and our veterans are more likely to experience gambling
harm than the general population, and yet Operation Courage, and
now the Veterans’ Strategy Action Plan, make reference to help
for drugs and alcohol problems but not gambling problems. Does
the Minister now accept that there is sufficient evidence to
justify much greater action on this issue?
(Con)
My Lords, I pay tribute to the noble Lord’s work in this area. I
will not allow myself to venture into personal opinions on
gambling—I am answering as a Minister. We are grateful to the
Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund for its work and are assessing
its findings and the Forces in Mind Trust report. We will take
both those reports very seriously in considering our work going
forward.
(Con)
My Lords, we are at times in danger of giving the impression that
the majority of our veterans who leave service are troubled, yet
I remind your Lordships’ House that 96% of service leavers make a
successful transition to a civilian career within six months of
leaving. It is an excellent action plan, but if I were to have
one criticism, it is that it is not until page 32 that the
Government first talk about promoting a positive image of our
veterans. Can I ask my noble friend if that could be the
headline—that service veterans are excellent people to employ?
(Con)
I agree profoundly with what my noble friend said, and he is
right that the significant majority of veterans go on to live
happy and healthy lives when they move out of the Armed Forces,
and make as great a contribution to our society when they are not
serving as when they did. That does not absolve the Government of
the duty to stand by those who need additional support.
(Lab)
My Lords, the RAF Benevolent Fund research, to which the noble
Lord, Lord Foster, refers, merely corroborates the Army’s own
assessment that military veterans are eight times more likely to
have gambling problems than the rest of the country’s population.
Should the Government ask themselves not what do we do for the
people whose distress has caused them to fall into this
difficulty, but why there is such a prevalence of those who give
their military service to this country developing this
distressing condition?
(Con)
I do not detract from the significance of what the noble Lord
said, with his very great experience. The reality is that this
Government take seriously the gambling concerns and problems in
all sectors of society, and are committed to tackling
gambling-related harms. As he will know, the Ministry of Defence
is continuing to develop welfare support policies for supporting
personnel, including those with gambling problems, and the MoD
restricts the ability of service personnel to access online
gambling sites.
(DUP)
My Lords, does the Minister agree that there is a necessity for
an up-to-date community survey that will measure problem gambling
among both Armed Forces and civilian populations?
(Con)
There is a Gambling Act review, which I know that some noble
Lords will feel is taking a little time. It will be, and is, the
most thorough review of gambling law since the Labour
Government’s Act and we need to get it right. We are continuing
with that and have already taken interim action—for example,
banning gambling on credit cards.
My Lords, it is absolutely right that we pay tribute to those
veterans who have successfully transitioned back into civilian
life, but nevertheless the research by the RAF Benevolent Fund is
striking, with much higher levels of problem gambling and at-risk
gambling among veterans, which we need to attend to. Are there
any plans by Her Majesty’s Government to screen those
transitioning back into civilian life, and to provide additional
support where necessary?
(Con)
As I have already said, the Government are grateful to the RAF
Benevolent Fund and are considering that research. The NHS
long-term plan is addressing provision for those who have
gambling problems, and we will continue to work to ensure that we
detect and support problems where they arise. In that respect, I
am on all fours with every noble Lord who has contributed so far.
(Con)
I commend the Government for establishing a review of the
treatment of LGBT veterans who served in our Armed Forces between
1967 and 2000, when many were disciplined, dismissed and
humiliated for homosexual conduct which was perfectly legal in
civilian life. Can my noble friend assure these veterans that,
when the review is completed, it will be followed by action to
address the suffering and hardship that they endured?
(Con)
I pay tribute to my noble friend and others on all Benches who
have campaigned on this matter. I am pleased to tell him that
setting up this process is not the end; the end is the action
that follows. We are committed to taking tangible action, where
appropriate, to redress past wrongs. To do this in a meaningful
way, we have to fully understand the impact that the historic ban
still has today, and the independent review will help to do that.
of Darlington (Lab)
My Lords, we know from research from Swansea University and
others that veterans are 10 times more likely than non-veterans
to experience problem gambling, yet we do not screen for it.
Support for those leaving the Armed Forces has vastly improved in
recent decades but there is still more to do, and support cannot
be provided if we do not know those most likely to need it. When
the Minister goes back to his department and speaks to colleagues
at the MoD, will he encourage them to include screening for a
propensity for problem gambling as part of the usual mental
health screening?
(Con)
I am sure that my colleagues will take note of everything said in
this House; I certainly promise the noble Baroness that. I remind
the House, if anyone doubts this Government’s commitment, that it
was this Government who set up the first ever dedicated Office
for Veterans’ Affairs, to champion veterans in every respect, at
the heart of government. We have an action plan and we will have
a veterans strategy refresh, drawing on all the wise advice given
by your Lordships and others, but I think the Government deserve
some credit for what has actually been done here.
(Con)
My Lords, is not the truth of the matter that the explosion in
gambling addiction is a consequence of the Labour Government’s
decision to change the law which previously prevented people
promoting and stimulating demand for gambling?
(Con)
My noble friend puts me in a dangerous place. The Government’s
answer—and it is right—is to undertake as comprehensive a review
of the Gambling Act as there has ever been, and that will be
pursued. My personal view, as a sports fan, is that I am sick and
tired of gambling advertising being thrust down viewers’ throats.
