Agenda item

Dave Roberts, Financial Inclusion Manager, and Jo Rowlands, Senior Policy Development Officer, will be attending from Leeds City Council to give a presentation on this item.

Having discussed the issue of problem gambling at a previous meeting, the Board had requested a presentation from representatives from Leeds City Council about their work to tackle problem gambling and its wider impact on society. The Chair introduced Jo Rowlands and Dave Roberts from Leeds City Council, who gave members an overview of the progress made so far.

Leeds City Council granted Global Gaming Ventures a licence in 2013 on the condition that they were able to secure a number of economic, social and environmental benefits to mitigate against any negative impacts a large casino may cause. The Council used an associated grant to commission research to assess rates of problem gambling and found that there were around 10,000 adult problem gamblers in Leeds (in percentage terms, double the national average rate), and a further 30,000 ‘at risk’ individuals. The research found that this could affect anyone at any time, and that it was often a hidden addiction which impacted on personal finances, wellbeing and relationships. It was noted that there was often a clear link between problem gambling, existing debt problems and those with mental health difficulties, and links to the council’s priority on tackling poverty and reducing inequality. The council had also met with the director of Public Health England, who agreed that this was an issue growing in prominence.

In response to the research, Leeds City Council aimed to deliver three strands of work looking at increasing awareness through marketing and promotional campaigns, increasing awareness of problem gambling through staff development and increasing support to those impacted. Their awareness campaign, Beat the Odds, launched in October 2017 and was advertised in targeted areas such as bus shelters close to gambling establishments, pubs, garage forecourts, hospitals and GP practices, and also made use of geo-location advertising which would show pop-up adverts on mobile phones when close to a betting shop. The work to increase staff awareness was focused on staff with direct customer contact, libraries, housing providers, schools, children’s centres, advice centres, universities and community based organisations. Where staff had previously identified problem gamblers, they reported that while they recognised the problem, they were not clear where individuals could be referred to for support. This fed into the third strand which focused on increasing the support services available to gamblers, including local counsellors, as well as awareness of the National Gambling HelpLine. The council had been working on this issue for around 18 months and reported that there was clear evidence of enthusiasm for tackling this problem within the city.

The Chair thanked the speakers and invited comments from members of the Board:

·         Members discussed whether there was a definition of ‘problem gambling’ and what the link was between other addictions or crime. Dave Roberts explained that there was national research which suggested co-morbidity and a link between gambling and other issues such as debt, addiction and domestic violence, and he was clear that this was not being looked at as a single issue problem.

·         A conversation was had about how little was currently known about the scale of the problem and how beneficial it would be to have sufficient evidence to back up calls to tackle problem gambling. Comments were made about a need not to appear against gambling but to show that for some people, there is a problem which needs tackling and that advertisers needed to be held more responsible.

·         Members felt it was crucial to consider the impact problem gambling had not just on the individual but also their wider families and employers. Leeds City Council agreed with this position and confirmed they were looking at how to tease out this particular issue and whether low level screening could work across partnerships. Members were told that screening was not taking place at the moment because there was insufficient local support available for those affected and there was a reluctance to provide false hope when there was only one counsellor available in the city. While the national helpline was good, far more local provision was needed.

·         Members supported attempts to work across partners and agreed that the voluntary sector and community organisations should be involved in any efforts to tackle problem gambling.

Ellie Greenwood, LGA Senior Adviser (Regulation), then provided members with an update on the Government’s recent announcement on their review of fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs), stake reduction and advertising. The Government had committed to substantially reducing stakes but it wasn’t clear if that would go as far as the LGA’s calls for a reduction to £2. Members were told that the trade body for amusement arcades had commissioned research looking at the benefits of reducing stakes. It was also noted that the Government was not looking to increase any other stakes and was rejecting calls from casinos to increase the number of machines permitted in their establishments.

In terms of advertising, the Government had not committed to anything substantive but that there would be a major public information campaign to be funded by the industry and led by GambleAware. Members were told that the Government would also encourage the industry to take voluntary action on promoting responsible online gambling. The Government had confirmed it would consider introducing a statutory levy to fund research, education and treatment if the industry did not voluntarily increase donations. The LGA planned to respond to the consultation on this, which would close on 23 January, and officers were seeking a steer from members on the content of the response.

Members made the following points:

·         The LGA should continue to press for a reduction to a £2 stake but should also ask that spin speeds are reduced and that measures are taken to encourage responsible advertising. On stake reduction, it was suggested that research into the benefits of stake reduction in countries where this had already been introduced would be helpful – e.g. New Zealand where the maximum stake is less than £1.

·         Members agreed with the suggestion of a levy which would raise funds for the treatment of gambling addictions but expressed concerns that a voluntary levy was unlikely to be as profitable as a mandatory levy. They also suggested that links with the health agenda were considered and more funding was needed for enforcement.

·         It was noted that online betting organisations were previously fined £7.8 million for their failure to assist vulnerable customers and members asked where that money had gone. Members suggested that analysis by the LGA of the amount of funding given to local authorities to deal with gambling addiction would be useful.

·         Members felt that while a stake reduction would be a positive step, it was not a panacea and it was also important to look at educating people so they understood the odds of winning online gambling so that the problem is not simply pushed from one arena to another.

·         It was suggested that the LGA could run a social media campaign to raise awareness of the issue.

Decision

Members noted the presentation and update.

Actions

1)    Officers to develop a new guide for councils on the issue of problem gambling.

2)    Officers to circulate a link to Leeds City Council’s report.

-       Leeds Council - Executive Report

-       Leeds Council - Gambling Report

3)    Officers to liaise with the LGA’s Communications team about a possible social media campaign.