gambling addiction – Page 2 – The Church of England in Parliament

Bishop of St Albans asks about issues associated with lotteries

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 11th July 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay on 15 June 2023 (HL8253) what training is provided to retailers about the risk of National Lottery and society lottery products.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con): The 2018 Health Survey for England showed that lotteries were associated with the lowest rates of problem gambling of all gambling products considered, and the National Lottery Operator is mandated under its licence to have player protection strategies.

Bishop of Derby asks about gambling related harm

The Bishop of Derby asked a question on companies being held to account for gambling harms on 29th March 2023, during a debate on breaches of player protection by betting companies:

The Lord Bishop of Derby: My Lords, given this further evidence of companies serially failing to take care of their customers, what steps are the Government taking to ensure that individuals can hold companies to account for gambling harms?

Bishop of St Albans asks a question regarding mental health care for gambling addiction

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 18th July 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked her Majesty’s Government how many people were subject to a Mental Health Treatment Requirement (MHTR) as part of a (1) community, or (2) suspended, sentence order due to a serious gambling addiction for each year since their introduction in 2005.

Bishop of St Albans asks a question on gambling addiction

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 30th June 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to introduce (1) a Community Sentence Treatment Requirement for gambling addiction, or (2) a Gambling Treatment Requirement, similar to community sentence treatments for offences where alcohol, drugs or mental health issues were an underlying factor.

Lord Bellamy (Con): Offenders with a gambling addiction may be suitable for a Mental Health Treatment Requirement (MHTR) as part of a community or suspended sentence order where mental health has been identified as an underlying factor.

Bishop of St Albans asks about gambling levies

The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on tackling harms related to gambling during a debate on the Gambling Act 2005 on 9th February 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I declare my interests as a member of Peers for Gambling Reform. The British Medical Journal said:

“We do not allow tobacco companies to design tobacco control policies, yet the gambling industry, through the organisations it funds, shapes our responses to … harms”.

Does the Minister agree that the system of voluntary levies is part of the problem, because the industry is controlling the messaging, and that what we need are statutory, smart levies to give total independence to research, treatment and education if we are really to tackle gambling-related harms?

Bishop of St Albans moves his Coroners (Determination of Suicide) Bill

The Bishop of St Albans moved his Coroners (Determination of Suicide) Bill in the House of Lords on 19th November 2021, and gave a speech outlining the purpose of the bill, which focuses on gambling-related suicide:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: That the Bill now be read a second time.

My Lords, I declare my interest as a vice-chair of Peers for Gambling Reform. The focus of this Bill is on gambling-related suicide; indeed, I have heard one Member of your Lordships’ House describe it as a “gambling Bill”. It is no secret that gambling reform is a major concern of mine, but I start by stressing that the scope of the Bill extends far beyond gambling-related suicides and can include a wide range of factors that contribute to death by suicide.

I will give some background to set the scene. Under the current legislative framework in England and Wales, once a suspected suicide is reported, the death is classified as “sudden and unexplained” until an official determination is made. The coroner is then required to undertake an inquest alongside a jury to make a determination as to the cause of death and whether the death is to be registered as a suicide—a process that often takes up to six months from the confirmed date of death of the deceased.

Armed Forces Bill: Bishop of St Albans tables amendment to mandate research into problem gambling and gambling related harm in the military

On 2nd November 2021, the House of Lords debated the Armed Forces Bill in committee. The Bishop of St Albans tabled an amendment to the bill which would require that the Ministry of Defence conduct research into gambling related harm in the military, and stood as part of a group of amendments focused on mental health and wellbeing in the armed forces:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I declare my interest as a vice-chair of Peers for Gambling Reform. I rise to speak to Amendment 60 in my name. I tabled it because I am concerned that the Ministry of Defence is not taking gambling-related harm in the military community sufficiently seriously. On two occasions in response to my concerns in this area, the Ministry of Defence has stated that it has seen no evidence, or does not hold information, suggesting that serving personnel are more prone to problem gambling than any other group in society.

At the same time, it was disappointing to hear that evidence from the United States that suggested that serving personnel were more prone to problem gambling did not constitute an evidence base for the UK Armed Forces. This leaves us with a clear impasse, where the Government refuse to accept research from abroad but, at the same time, do not commit to researching whether there is a problem.

Bishop of St Albans tables question for debate on gambling related harms

The Bishop of St Albans tabled a question for short debate on the topic of the recently published Gambling Related Harms Evidence Review on 14th October 2021:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the report by Public Health England Gambling-related harms evidence review, published on 30 September.

My Lords, I declare my interests as a vice-chair of Peers for Gambling Reform. I thank Public Health England and all those who worked on this review, which sheds light on the health impacts of gambling-related harms and quantifies the direct cost of gambling harms to the Government. The review concluded that 0.5% of our population were considered problem gamblers and 7% of the population of the UK are negatively affected by gambling. This is over 4 million people in England and over 5 million people across the UK as a whole, which is one in 12 people either directly or indirectly affected by gambling-related harms. This is a significant social problem.

Bishop of St Albans asks about gambling rehabilitation

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 15th March 2021:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to include consideration of issues relating to gambling harm in the professional sports community in the development of the cross-Government addiction strategy.

Bishop of St Albans asks about recent gambling study

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 4th March 2021:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the finding of the study in the Nature Human Behaviour journal The association between gambling and financial, social and health outcomes in big financial data, published on 4 February, that an individual is more likely to become a heavy gambler in a period of six months than to go from heavy gambling to abstention; and what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of existing gambling treatment programmes.

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