UK LEGAL COMMENT
Photo by Keenan Constance
The problem with problem gambling data
Northridge Law’s Melanie Ellis takes a detailed look at the Gambling Commission’s latest survey results.
R 26 APRIL 2023
ecent data from the Gambling Commission’s quarterly telephone survey indicates that problem gambling levels in Great Britain have fallen to 0.2% of the population. Given that the published figure for 2019 was 0.6%, this
appears to indicate a significant reduction over the course of the past three years. On the face of it, a fall in problem gambling rates coinciding with an increase in regulatory requirements and expectations indicates that measures such as the credit card ban, restrictions on advertising and affordability checks are working. The Betting and Gaming Council heralded the figures as “evidence of the positive progress we have made on safer gambling”. If problem gambling rates are genuinely falling, this will be
highly relevant to the Government as it finalises the policy proposals in the Gambling Act review White Paper. The DCMS Committee launched an enquiry in December 2022 to
examine regulation of gambling, with the first question asked of potential respondents: “What is the scale of gambling- related harm in the UK?”. Some of the evidence submitted in response (published by
the Committee on 21 March 2023) paints a different picture to the Commission’s survey data. The British Medical Association stated that “gambling is a growing public health issue” and “doctors are concerned that the regulation of gambling is inadequate”. GAMSTOP reported that 345,000 people have registered to exclude themselves from gambling since 2018 and GambleAware set out that its own survey had found 2.7% of adults experienced problem gambling, although recognises the risk of selection bias in its research. A number of responses also pointed to the fact that many others are often affected by each person experiencing disordered gambling, GambleAware putting this figure at 7.1% of adults.
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