gambling – Page 6 – The Church of England in Parliament

Bishop of St Albans introduces the Coroners (Determination of Suicide) Bill

On 7th June 2022, The Bishop of St Albans introduced his Coroners (Determination of Suicide) Bill on its first reading:

‘A Bill to require the coroner, following an inquest, to record an opinion as to the relevant factors in a case of death by suicide; and for connected purposes.‘

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, in moving the Bill, I declare my interest in the register as a vice-president of Peers for Gambling Reform.

Hansard

The Bill was introduced by the Lord Bishop of St Albans, read a first time and ordered to be printed.

Bishop of St Albans asks about gambling

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 17th May 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for introducing a mandatory levy on gambling firms to help fund an expansion of treatment and support services for those experiencing gambling related harm.

Judicial Review and Courts Bill: Bishop of St Albans tables amendment

On 31st March 2022, the House of Lords debated the Judicial Review and Courts Bill. The Bishop of St Albans spoke on his amendment to the bill:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I rise to speak briefly to Amendment 28 standing in my name. I would be grateful if the House would indulge me just for a few minutes. As I explained last week when I was presenting my Private Member’s Bill, Public Health England pointed out that, in just one year, there were 409 suicides related to problem gambling. Your Lordships will be aware that the largest lobby group here in the House is Peers for Gambling Reform. Whenever we have tried to deal with this, one thing we keep hearing back is that we simply do not have the statistics or the data on the various causes of suicide. For some while, I have been trying in every way I can to get at least some data to help us with this so that we can devise strategies to reduce the terrible burden on families who have lost a young person.

Bishop of St Albans asks about gambling treatment services

The Bishop of St Albans asked about funding of NHS gambling treatment services on 28th March 2022:

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.

Coroners (Determination of Suicide) Bill: Bishop of St Albans moves to pass bill

On 25th March 2022, the House of Lords debated the Coroners (Determination of Suicide) Bill (2021) in its third reading. The Bishop of St Albans, who had brought the bill as a private members bill, moved that the bill should pass.

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: That the Bill do now pass.

My Lords, I shall make just one or two brief comments. I am sure everybody is greatly relieved that the timing is going so well this afternoon, and I really shall not delay your Lordships for too long, but this gives me an opportunity to say one or two brief things and then give some thanks.

The reason behind the Bill is that, seven or eight years ago, a couple came to see me, sat in my study and told me how their son had taken his life because of a gambling problem. The sad thing about that story was the way they talked about the fact that they could see what was happening. He had gone in and out of treatment, but they just could not reach out to him. They knew what was going to happen, and they watched as he slowly spiralled down until that fateful day when he took his life. That led me on a journey. Eventually, we managed to get a Select Committee here. As your Lordships may be aware, Peers for Gambling Reform is now, I think, the largest lobbying group in the House of Lords.

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 asks about support for those at risk of problem gambling

The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on support available for armed forces veterans affected by problem gambling on 27th January 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, it is absolutely right that we pay tribute to those veterans who have successfully transitioned back into civilian life, but nevertheless the research by the RAF Benevolent Fund is striking, with much higher levels of problem gambling and at-risk gambling among veterans, which we need to attend to. Are there any plans by Her Majesty’s Government to screen those transitioning back into civilian life, and to provide additional support where necessary?

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.

Bishop of St Albans asks about advertising and compensation paid by gambling companies

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 17th November 2021:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government:

what assessment they have made of the report by Bristol University What are the odds? The appeal of gambling adverts to children and young persons on twitter, published on 26 October; and particularly the findings that (1) the majority of gambling advertisements were twice as likely to appeal to children as older adults, and (2) nearly half of children and almost three quarters of young people saw gambling adverts on Twitter almost once per week.
what assessment they have made of the recommendation from the report by Bristol University What are the odds? The appeal of gambling adverts to children and young persons on twitter, published on 26 October, that there should be an opt-in requirement to receive gambling advertisements on social media.

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