The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 24th July 2023:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to promote research on the types and extent of financial harms experienced by people who gamble.
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con, DCMS): While millions of people gamble without experiencing problems, for some it becomes an addiction with serious consequences. His Majesty’s Government recognises the importance of continuing to collect data, evidence, and research into the types of harms experienced by problem gamblers.
The Gambling Commission is undertaking a project to improve the way it collects data on adult gambling participation and the incidence, nature, and severity of harm experienced as a result of gambling, whether one’s own or someone else’s. This will inform the new Gambling Survey for Great Britain, which the Commission aims to launch this year. This will support future research and provide decision-makers with a strong evidence base.
The Government will introduce a statutory levy, part of which will be dedicated to funding research to help improve the evidence base on gambling. A consultation on the levy will be published later this summer.
Our Gambling Act review White Paper also committed to working with UK Research & Innovation to stimulate interest in gambling as a research field among researchers across a range of academic disciplines.
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of a national self-exclusion register for problem gamblers.
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: Gambling businesses are required to have their own self-exclusion arrangements in place so customers can self-exclude from individual operators. They are also required to participate in Multi-Operator Self-Exclusion Schemes, which allow a customer to make a single request to self-exclude from a licensed gambling sector, either nationally or on a local basis. Further information about each of the schemes can be found on the Commission’s website(opens in a new tab). Nearly 400,000 consumers have used GAMSTOP to self-exclude from all online gambling licensed by the Commission.
The Commission works closely with the schemes, including hosting a regular Self-Exclusion Scheme Owners Group meeting which is chaired by GAMSTOP. The group works together to improve effectiveness and is currently working on making it easier for consumers to access information and self-exclude across sectors in one place.
The Church of England in Parliament 
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