Asked by The Lord Bishop of St Albans To ask Her Majesty’s
Government, further to the announcements that the NHS (1) will no
longer accept money from GambleAware, and (2) is establishing two
additional NHS gambling clinics to meet demand, what plans they
have to agree a long-term independent funding settlement for NHS
gambling treatment services. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of
State, Department of Health and Social Care (Lord Kamall) (Con) In
2019,...Request free trial
Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the announcements
that the NHS (1) will no longer accept money from GambleAware,
and (2) is establishing two additional NHS gambling clinics to
meet demand, what plans they have to agree a long-term
independent funding settlement for NHS gambling treatment
services.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health
and Social Care () (Con)
In 2019, the NHS committed to establishing 15 specialist gambling
clinics by 2023-24. Five clinics are now operational across
England, with a further two to open by May. This rollout carries
a budget of £15 million, including £6 million allocated for
2023-24. After this, NHS England will provide recurrent annual
funding of £6 million. The Department of Health and Social Care
and NHS England and NHS Improvement are currently undertaking a
review to ensure there is a coherent pathway of advice and
treatment for those experiencing gambling-related harm.
I thank the Minister for his reply, but it is quite extraordinary
that, at a time when the NHS is in such dire straits, with such
financial pressures, we are picking up the costs incurred by an
industry. This announcement has shown that far more resources are
needed to deal with the outcome of problem gambling, and that the
current voluntary levy is simply inadequate to provide the level
of independent research, education and treatment that we need.
Will the Government commit to introducing a compulsory levy of,
say, 1% of gross gambling yield on the polluter pays principle,
so that taxpayers are not picking up the huge bills being created
by this problem that exists right across society?
(Con)
I thank the right reverend Prelate for his follow-up question and
for raising the issue in the first place. He is absolutely right
that we must think about this across government; DCMS leads the
policy, but the Department of Health and Social Care is
co-operating with it to look at the health issues. Gambling used
to be considered a syndrome, but it is now recognised as an
addiction. We are committing resources to it through our
long-term plan, and will open 15 NHS specialist gambling clinics
by 2023-24, with £15 million of funding over the period.
(Lab)
My Lords, do we not need a mandatory levy now? The Government
should be setting up a body made up of independent experts,
charities and the NHS to decide what services are required and
where they should be provided.
(Con)
The former Public Health England, now the Office for Health
Improvement and Disparities, works closely with us, particularly
on this issue. We understand the call for a compulsory levy.
Indeed, as I am sure many noble Lords will be aware, DCMS
recently conducted a review of the Gambling Act 2005. The DHSC
was part of that, looking at the impact of gambling on health.
Gambling is now recognised as an addiction, as opposed to any
other issue. We are looking at this and considering all options.
The Government received 16,000 responses to the consultation; we
are looking at that and will publish the White Paper soon.
(CB)
My Lords, with respect, the Minister did not really answer the
question about the financing of these services. Does he accept,
or understand, that those who treat and research gambling
conditions are reluctant to accept funds that are voluntarily
provided by the gambling industry?
(Con)
I completely recognise the noble Lord’s point, which is why we
welcome the fact that GambleAware will no longer fund the two
clinics in London and Leeds. NHS England has stepped forward on
that, but we are reviewing this overall, in a holistic way. When
we have an issue that is considered across government, we must
make sure that it is all joined up. The Department for Digital,
Culture, Media and Sport has been leading the review into the
Gambling Act 2005, and has asked the Office for Health
Improvement and Disparities and the Department of Health and
Social Care to feed into it, along with all the other
stakeholders.
The Lord Speaker ()
My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, will make a virtual
contribution.
(LD) [V]
My Lords, Public Health England says that around 246,000 people
are likely to have some form of gambling addiction, but last
year, only 668 people—with the most severe addiction issues—were
referred to the gambling clinics because of a lack of resources.
Even with the extra clinics over the next three years, will this
number of clinics be able to treat the top 10% of patients, which
is 24,000 people? If not, when will the service expand to help
them too?
(Con)
The noble Baroness makes an important point and there is
recognition that we must do far more on this. That is why we held
a review of the Gambling Act in the first place. As noble Lords
will be aware, when the work is cross-government, the Department
of Health cannot lead in this area; it can contribute when it
comes to the health and addiction impacts of gambling but we are
doing this in a joined-up way. The White Paper will be published
soon and we are continuing to have conversations with the
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on this
issue.
(Con)
My Lords, I echo the point made by the right reverend Prelate.
The polluter pays principle is really important, particularly
when we think that the gambling industry continues to offer
customers VIP packages and streams live sport, which are equally
damaging. This badly affect the lives of families and has an
impact on individuals’ struggles. I welcome the NHS clinics but
we always seem to tackle issues once the horse has bolted. I want
my noble friend the Minister to address the issues of prevention
and working much more closely with the gambling industry and
others in government.
A noble Baroness
My Lords—
(Con)
I am very happy to take two questions at once; I will even take
three, if noble Lords want, and try to answer them.
The important point that a number of noble Lords are making is
that many want to see a polluter pays principle. In economics,
this goes back to negative externalities, where you attack things
that are considered bad. Some people call them bad; others call
them negative externalities. However, when you say that the
polluter should pay, who is that? People sometimes say that it
should be users but, if you do that, users will end up paying
more. Others say that it should be the industry, but will the
industry then pass on those costs to users and put those people
into even more distress? This is why we want to look at this
issue in a joined-up way. Yes, it is about the gambling industry,
and this may well be the option we land on, but we want to make
sure that we tackle the issue in a completely holistic way.
(Lab)
My Lords, I welcome the Government saying that there needs to be
a range of treatment and not just the hard-end clinics. I declare
my interest, as in the register, having recently become a trustee
of GambleAware; I did that because I want those people who are
scared of going for treatment and frightened of the stigma to be
able to access early intervention, which means much more work for
the voluntary sector. Can the Minister commit to the Department
of Health ensuring that the pathway is very clear and will
involve early intervention, particularly for women, so that they
do not have to end up in heavy-end treatment?
(Con)
The noble Baroness makes a very important point: people must be
treated as individuals—they will have come to addiction from
different pathways. We have been engaging with the Department for
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on a number of issues.
Additionally, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities
regularly engages with NHS England working-level counterparts,
including recently on the establishment of a joint task and
finish group on integrating the gambling treatment pathway.
Referring directly to the question asked by the noble Baroness,
there is no one simple pathway into gambling, and there is a
stigma. By putting it at the forefront of some NHS services, we
are showing that we are taking it seriously, and that it is not
just an affliction but an addiction. We recognise that we must do
more to tackle that.
(LD)
My Lords, I declare my interest as chair of Peers for Gambling
Reform. The Minister has talked a lot about treatment, but does
he accept that by adopting a public health approach, we would
reduce harm in the first instance? Can he give us an absolute
assurance that his department is co-operating on all aspects of
the gambling review that is currently taking place and that it
will be involved in the writing of the White Paper that will, I
hope, come before us very soon?
(Con)
We take the public health aspect very seriously. Public Health
England did some work with the DCMS on looking at gambling from a
public health perspective, and the Office for Health Improvement
and Disparities continues to do that work. While the Department
for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is looking at the gambling
industry, we are also looking at this as a public health issue
via the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. I see that
the seconds are running out, so I will give the Labour Front
Bench time to ask a question.
(Lab)
I thank the Minister for that.
GambleAware recently announced a new major public health campaign
to raise awareness of the gambling harms that women experience
and to highlight the warning signs and the support that is
available. It is particularly focusing on women between the ages
of 25 and 55 who gamble online. Can the Minister reassure the
House that such vital campaigns will continue to be supported
through the long-term funding settlement for NHS gambling
treatment and support services?
(Con)
I am afraid that I cannot answer on the specific initiative that
the noble Baroness refers to, but I know we take very seriously
that this is a public health issue that we must tackle in a
holistic way. We are looking at how we can allocate funding in
the NHS long-term plan to tackle gambling addiction and to ensure
that we focus more on prevention rather than simply dealing with
people once they have a problem.
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