APCC Addictions Leads respond to new findings on scale of problem gambling
APCC Addictions and Substance Misuse leads, PCCs Joy Allen and David Sidwick, have expressed their concerns following the publication of the largest ever survey of gambling in Great Britain. The Gambling Commission’s Gambling Survey found that:
- Half of participants had participated in some form of gambling in the previous month
- 2.5% of 10,000 respondents had struggled with problem gambling
- Of those who had gambled in the last year, more than 1 in 40 experienced severe harm to their life, such as turning to crime to finance gambling
- The consequences for those affected by someone else’s gambling included experiencing embarrassment, guilt or shame, conflict or arguments, and stress and anxiety
Joy Allen, Durham PCC, said:
“These findings highlight once again that for a small but significant minority of people their gambling is a source of significant harms, both to themselves and others. For some, this will include turning to gambling-related crime. A landmark report from the Howard League found a high incidence of people committing crimes to fund their gambling, including ‘white collar crimes’ and street robbery, as well as links to domestic abuse and neglect. Despite this, and some pioneering work by PCCs, problem gambling is still too often a ‘poor relation’ to other forms of addiction within the criminal justice system. We need to be doing more to identify, assess and refer offenders with gambling problems into treatment and other support, and to minimise the risks people will develop gambling problems in the first place.”
David Sidwick, Dorset PCC, said:
“Gambling-related crime will remain a priority for the APCC on behalf of all PCCs, PFCCs and Deputy Mayors. We would urge the Government to prioritise taking forward at pace the former Government’s proposed introduction of a statutory levy on the gambling industry to fund research, prevention and treatment, including interventions through the criminal justice system. In our experience, while there has been a gambling minister in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, there has been a lack of ownership and grip of the specific issue of problem gambling within Government which has made it much more difficult to engage nationally to make the progress we need on substance misuse issues. It would be helpful if Government could reflect on this in the allocation of ministerial roles and responsibilities.”
For reference - Howard League Commission report: Final-report_Commission-on-Crime-and-Gambling-Related-Harms_Howard-League-for-Penal-Reform_26-April-2023.pdf (howardleague.org)