Asked by: Lord Chadlington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of car hire companies not accepting customers aged 75 years or over; and what steps they will take to ensure that older drivers are not unfairly discriminated against.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
Such refusals would be potentially unlawful under the Equality Act 2010. This legislation provides that it is unlawful age discrimination for a service provider such as a car hire company to refuse, on age grounds, to lease a vehicle to an otherwise qualified person, unless the company can, when challenged, objectively justify its decision.
Where a company cannot, in those circumstances, show that their leasing age policy is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim, the individual affected can bring a claim to the County Court, or Sheriff’s Court in Scotland. The court may determine whether the “objective justification test” has been satisfied, and may award costs and compensation if the claimant wins their case. A range of guidance is available to service providers on their obligations and to service users on their rights, most notably on the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s website: https://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com, and through the Equality and Advisory and Support Service (EASS). The EASS can be contacted via its website, http://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com, by telephone on 0808 800 0082 (or by text phone on 0808 800 0084).
Asked by: Lord Chadlington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that female gambling addicts now outnumber male gambling addicts in Sweden; and what plans they have to re-evaluate and expand the policy evidence base in the UK in respect of the gender makeup of gambling addicts.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The main source of data for problem and at-risk gambling behaviour in Great Britain is the Health Surveys for England and Scotland, and the Problem Gambling Survey Wales. 2016 data showed that men were more likely than women to be classified as a problem gambler (1.2% and 0.2% respectively). The surveys also indicated that certain other groups are at greater risk of experiencing problems from gambling, including those with poor mental health or who are unemployed. However, further work is needed to understand the nature of these associations.
Government recognises the importance of building understanding of how gambling related harm is experienced and by whom. Public Health England (PHE) is carrying out an evidence review looking at the health harms associated with gambling and the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board (now called the Advisory Board for Safer Gambling, ABSG) published a paper setting out a potential framework for measuring harm. Protecting vulnerable people from gambling-related harm is a priority for the Government and where there is evidence that a particular product or environment is causing harm, we will take action.
In March 2019, government awarded just over £1 million to GamCare for a project to raise awareness of how gambling is linked with a range of issues affecting women and girls and help to better identify women in need of support. One of the core work strands of the programme is to build data in this area.
Asked by: Lord Chadlington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much they spent on educational programmes for GPs on the potential health risks associated with gambling in (1) 2015, (2) 2016, (3) 2017, and (4) 2018; and what plans they have to increase the budget for such programmes.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Health Education England funds and delivers the GP Speciality Training Programmes as part of the Royal College of General Practitioners curriculum. The Government does not collect information on the amount of time and funding allocated to training on specific conditions or issues including gambling harms.
Asked by: Lord Chadlington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O'Shaughnessy on 1 October 2018 (HL10396), what was the breakdown by gender of gambling addiction-related hospital admissions in each of the last five years.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
NHS Digital’s Hospital Episode Statistics collects the volume of finished admissions episodes (FAEs) with a primary or secondary diagnosis of pathological/compulsive gambling and volumes for the last five years, broken down by gender is shown in the following table.
Year | Male | Female |
2013-14 | 54 | 11 |
2014-15 | 79 | 10 |
2015-16 | 70 | 16 |
2016-17 | 57 | 15 |
2017-18 | 92 | 15 |
Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS Digital
Notes:
Asked by: Lord Chadlington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to educate parents about (1) the potential risks of gambling-related harm, and (2) how to support and help their children to avoid such harm.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The government’s Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures included the announcement of a multi-million pound safer gambling advertising campaign, aimed at raising public awareness of the risks around gambling and signposting to support. The campaign will be funded by industry and led by GambleAware, an independent charity which commissions research, education and treatment of gambling-related harms.
GambleAware’s delivery plan for 2018-20 sets out steps it will take around education and harm-prevention, including developing and promoting a ‘knowledge hub’ of resources and guidance for teachers and those who work with young people, working with agencies that support young people’s mental health and encouraging parents to have conversations with their children about safer gambling behaviour.
Schools are expected to promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils. We know that some schools choose to teach about gambling and addiction in an age-appropriate way, as part of their Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education. The non-statutory PSHE programme of study, published by the PSHE Association includes teaching about gambling (including online) and its psychological and financial impact.
The consultation to make relationships education compulsory in all primary schools; relationships and sex education compulsory in all secondary schools; and health education in all state-funded schools, closed on 7 November and a thorough engagement process has informed the key decisions on the content of these subjects. The draft content also addresses online behaviour and mental wellbeing. We are currently analysing the responses to the consultation before finalising the regulations and guidance.
Asked by: Lord Chadlington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to conduct an investigation into the impact loot boxes in video games have on (1) underage gambling, and (2) instances of gambling related harm.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Where gambling facilities are offered, operators must have a licence from the Gambling Commission and have controls in place to prevent underage gambling.
Loot boxes do not fall under gambling law where the in-game items acquired are confined for use within the game and cannot be cashed out. However, the Government is aware of concerns that loot boxes and other entertainment products, such as some video games, could encourage gambling-like behaviour and longer term lead to gambling related harm, and will continue to look closely at any evidence around this issue. We welcome the recent introduction by the VSC Ratings Board and PEGI of a new label for video games to warn parents where they include the opportunity to make in-game purchases.
In September 2018, the Gambling Commission, along with 16 other regulators from Europe and the USA signed a declaration which outlined common concerns around gaming and gambling. The regulators agreed to work together to monitor the characteristics of video games and social gaming and where there is potential cross-over into gambling.
Asked by: Lord Chadlington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many problem gamblers they estimate are (1) under 18 years old, and (2) 18 years old or more, in (a) England, (b) Scotland, and (c) Wales.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Neither Government nor Gambling Commission holds data on the number of problem gamblers aged 18 and over or under 18.
The Health Survey for England and Scotland 2016 and Problem Gambling Survey Wales 2016 estimated the number of problem gamblers aged 16 and over in Great Britain as approximately 340,000, 0.7% of the population. Of these, approximately 280,000 were in England (based on 40 individuals identified as problem gamblers), approximately 40,000 in Scotland (based on 24 individuals) and approximately 20,000 in Wales (based on 29 individuals).
All estimates are rounded to the nearest 10,000 and due to the low prevalence of problem gambling among respondents to the survey have large confidence intervals. There is 95% confidence that the true estimate for the total number of problem gamblers aged 16 and over in Britain is between 250,000 and 460,000.
The Gambling Commission’s 2018 Young People and Gambling Report estimated that 1.7% of 11-16 year olds were problem gamblers, or approximately 55,000 if extrapolated to the population of Great Britain. This number is based on a survey completed by 2,865 children in schools in England, Scotland and Wales. Of these, 37 children were identified as problem gamblers: 30 in England, 3 in Scotland and 4 in Wales. Due to the low number of respondents it is not possible to provide robust estimates for the number of problem gamblers in each country.
All estimates of the total figures of problem gamblers in Great Britain should be treated with caution due to the low numbers of individuals on which they are based.
Asked by: Lord Chadlington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many of the trips to a hospital or safe place made by the police or ambulance crews were connected with gambling problems associated with mental health in (1) 2013, (2) 2014, (3) 2015, (4) 2016, (5) 2017, and (6) 2018.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
NHS England is not responsible for the provision of general practitioner training. The standard of medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC) and the training curricula for postgraduate trainee doctors is set by the relevant medical Royal College, which has to meet standards set by the GMC. Whilst curricula do not necessarily highlight specific conditions for doctors to be aware of, they instead emphasise the skills and approaches that a doctor must develop to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients. NHS England expects clinicians to use their professional judgement with patients presenting with particular symptoms and keep up to date with current developments and treatments.
Information on the number of trips to a hospital or safe place made by police or ambulance crews connected with gambling associated with mental health are not collected centrally.
Asked by: Lord Chadlington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what training NHS England provided for GPs to support those affected by gambling-related harm in (1) 2013, (2) 2014, (3) 2015, (4) 2016, (5) 2017, and (6) 2018; and what plans they have to increase the level of training provided.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
NHS England is not responsible for the provision of general practitioner training. The standard of medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC) and the training curricula for postgraduate trainee doctors is set by the relevant medical Royal College, which has to meet standards set by the GMC. Whilst curricula do not necessarily highlight specific conditions for doctors to be aware of, they instead emphasise the skills and approaches that a doctor must develop to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients. NHS England expects clinicians to use their professional judgement with patients presenting with particular symptoms and keep up to date with current developments and treatments.
Information on the number of trips to a hospital or safe place made by police or ambulance crews connected with gambling associated with mental health are not collected centrally.
Asked by: Lord Chadlington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) Belgium's decision to ban loot boxes in online games, and (2) the social impact adopting a similar policy would have on reducing gambling related harm in the UK.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Loot boxes do not fall under gambling law where the in-game items acquired are confined for use within the game and cannot be cashed out. However, the Government is aware of concerns that entertainment products, such as some video games, could encourage gambling-like behaviour, and will continue to look closely at any evidence around this issue.
We welcome the recent introduction by the VSC Ratings Board and PEGI of a new label for video games to warn parents where they include the opportunity to make in-game purchases.
The Gambling Commission, as the regulator for gambling in Great Britain, has strong powers and can take action where it needs to address emerging risks.
In September 2018, the Gambling Commission published a declaration signed by 16 gambling regulators, which outlined common concerns around gaming and gambling. The regulators agreed to work together to monitor the characteristics of video games and social gaming and where there is potential cross-over into gambling.