LAs urged to up the ante against gambling harm

One year on from the Government’s white paper on gambling, we are urging Local Authorities (LAs) to take the lead in reducing gambling harm.

Currently, one in every 12 people in the UK are affected by gambling harms and in England alone, hundreds of lives are lost to gambling every year. Many more experience poor mental and physical health and financial difficulties.

The distribution of these negative impacts is unfair, with the greatest risk being experienced by minority groups and people living in the most disadvantaged areas. Meanwhile, children and young people are increasingly exposed to gambling products, not only causing harm now, but creating the next generation of consumers.

However, despite repeated promises and a consultation by the Digital Culture Media and Sport Committee, a year on from the Department for Culture, Media and Sports’ white paper, little progress has been made.

Alice Wiseman, our Vice President, said:

“It has been nearly 20 years since the Gambling Act (2005) established the Gambling Commission to self-regulate the industry. However, instead of effective regulation, the industry sponsor education programmes, lobby parliament, give political donations and spend millions on marketing and advertising to ensure that their products are seen by as many people, as often, as possible.

“What’s needed to reduce the number of people experiencing harm is a robust national strategy. In the meantime, though, LAs have various levers at their disposal to tackle gambling harm and many that are already using them, are seeing positive results.”

ADPH, along with the Faculty of Public Health (FPH) and Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH), have put together the following ‘top ten’ local level interventions to show how using pre-existing powers could prevent harm:

1. The narrative – ensuring that awareness of gambling as a public health issue is embedded throughout the LA, taking the emphasis away from personal responsibility.
2. Planning – using existing planning legislation to stop the development of new gambling outlets.
3. Licensing – considering the public health implications of licensing decisions and adequately resourcing teams to enforce licensing conditions.
4. Advertising and marketing – ending advertising and marketing of gambling products through LA owned channels, including public transport.
5. Partnership and LA sponsored clubs – stopping the use of gambling products on LA owned land and in clubs organised by LAs.
6. Challenge industry funded networks of treatment and support – building on what has been learnt from alcohol and drug support services and extending the same approach to providing independently funded treatment and support for gambling, working in partnership with people with lived experience.
7. Education that is free from industry funding – developing education packages that are entirely free from industry influence and resourcing the capacity to implement them.
8. Ethical investments – challenging when schemes (eg pensions) invest in harmful industries.
9. Campaigns – resourcing and supporting campaigns that raise awareness using hard-hitting facts and evidence to reinforce public health messaging (as opposed to campaigns that aim to change individual behaviour).
10. Trading Standards – investing in staffing, training, and resourcing for Trading Standards that is free from industry influence.

Ms Wiseman added:

“If every LA implemented interventions like these, using their pre-existing powers, we could really see a reduction in harm. Sadly, it isn’t always that easy and initiatives like these are dependent on a wide range of factors – industry influence is never far away.

“To be truly effective, LAs need to be given more powers and responsibilities, alongside adequate resources and funding – and the training and tools – to be able to keep industry funded opposition at bay. That can only be done consistently by backing from central Government.”

FPH President, Professor Kevin Fenton, said:

“Gambling holds serious consequences for health in the UK, and particularly for communities already facing disadvantage. Though we need robust, health-focused policy to tackle gambling harms UK-wide, Local Authority teams can take meaningful action to prevent harms at local level.

“Our ‘top ten’ local interventions aim to empower local teams to drive forward action on gambling harms; from planning and licensing considerations through to supporting awareness campaigns and ensuring ethical investments.”

William Roberts, RSPH Chief Executive, added:

“Gambling-related harms continue to exacerbate health inequalities with the poorest places being hit hardest. The harmful physical, mental and financial effects of gambling are a major public health challenge. Concerningly, and as our previous research has shown, young people are increasingly being put at risk.

“The most effective public health interventions have prevention at their core. From restricting advertising to planning legislation, the ten interventions are actionable and practical for local authorities, using existing powers to help reduce the harm that gambling has on places, communities and people.”