The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 5th December 2023:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government how many children and young people were being treated by the NHS for addiction to video games or gaming disorder annually from 2015 to 2022.
Lord Markham (Con, DHSC): The National Centre for Gaming Disorders, providing treatment for people aged between 13 and 25 experiencing problem gaming in England, opened in October 2019. The following table shows the total number of annual referrals since the service became operational. The specific data requested is collected by the service provider to inform service delivery. This data is not subject to National Health Service quality assurance protocol and is therefore unsuitable for publication.
| Year | Number of referrals of people aged 13 – 25 experiencing problems with gaming |
| 2019 (October to Dec only) | 12 |
| 2020 (Full year) | 62 |
| 2021 (Full year) | 99 |
| 2022 (Full year) | 148 |
| 2023 (January to August only) | 121 |
| Total | 442 |
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government how many reported instances there are of violence or self-harm linked to video gaming in children and young people.
Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con, Home Office): The Home Office does not hold information on the number of reported instances of violence or self-harm linked to video gaming in children and young people.
However, the Government takes this issue extremely seriously and is introducing a new offence through the Online Safety Act to make communications which encourage or assist self-harm illegal. This will protect people of all ages from this harmful content.
Equivalent provisions are set out in the Criminal Justice Bill currently making its way through Parliament, which create the same prohibitions offline.
The Church of England in Parliament 
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