DCMS gambling investigation: Treatment organizations stress the need for new prevalence methodologies

was launched by the Select committee in December of last year after warned that “more needs to be achieved” to protect people. The Select Committee will look at the government’s gambling regulations, and related issues like innovation and the relationship between broadcasting and sports.

The Committee’s activities are separate from the Gambling Bill review – the formal government process to create new gambling laws for the “digital age”. The Gambling Review white paper, the long-awaited result of this process was released last month. It recommended several specific policy recommendations.

“Treading water”

Individuals representing treatment organizations echoed the criticisms made following the publication of the whitepaper. The number of measures put up for consultation, the relative inaction on gambling marketing as well as multiple delay were all criticised.

Matthew Hickey is the chief executive of Gordon Moody’s gambling treatment service. He has cited this “treading-water” phase of delays in white papers as having a negative impact on his organization.

He said that the last year, when the white paper went through various iterations, was a difficult one for him to deliver services.

Gambling harms are on the rise, but why?

The committee was concerned by the apparent rise in gambling addiction, as measured by the demand of treatment providers.

All the charities present were careful to state that it could be due to increased public awareness about treatment. However, they did not rule out the possibility of a higher rate of absolute addiction.

Hickey said, “We’ve seen an increase in the number of applications we receive over the past few years.” “What we see is that the number of applications has increased, from 500 per annum before Covid, to 250 per annum during the Covid era, to nearly 1,000 during the last fiscal year.”

Raising public awareness about treatment services

Why is that? He continued: “Well, we’ve increased our awareness. We think that the public is more aware of treatment options.”

“If 400,000 people say they are problem gambling, or 1.4 million say they are, then we’d guess, and I emphasize the word guess, that there are many more who need help. They either don’t know they need help or hide their addiction, and only come forward at a crisis point.”

Anna Hargrave, the chief commissioning officer for GambleAware, framed this issue as a matter of public health. She stressed that gambling harm estimates vary widely and called for more research to resolve the issue.

The Gambling Commission is currently creating a new harms study in order to better understand the prevalence of gambling-related harms in UK.

The effects of gambling on minorities

Hargrave pointed out also that the effects on gambling are different for different demographic groups, and they seek treatment at different rates.

She said that although minority communities are less likely than white British people to gamble, they suffer greater harm. She said that while gambling harm in white British communities is about 20%, the amount increases to 40% for minority communities.

We know we’re not reaching everyone. That’s why our stigma campaign is so important in raising awareness and encouraging people come forward and talk about it. Only then can we truly understand the extent of the problem.

Anna Hemmings is the chief executive of GamCare. She also pointed out that there are differences in prevalence based on both demographic and geographic factors.

She said that “prevalence estimates vary widely, and we need to do more research in order to understand not only what prevalence at the population level is but also how it impacts on specific groups.”

The prevalence rates vary across the country. It could be due to different demographic or geographic groups. We notice that most callers are young. Around 60% of them are under 35 years old. Age is also a factor.