Sentencing Bill

Allison Gardner Excerpts

Committee of the whole House
Tuesday 21st October 2025 Commons Chamber

With so many of our social policy levers already devolved, full devolution would provide Wales with the opportunity to create and implement a cohesive, holistic justice and rehabilitation strategy that works for the people of Wales and for our specific communities and needs. I look forward to hearing the Minister’s response to these arguments on both amendments at the close of the debate, and I hope to see his Government act on the actual calls of probation staff dealing with these issues on the frontline.

[Dr Allison Gardner (Stoke-on-Trent South) (Lab)]

I will speak to new clause 28, “Gambling treatment requirement” and new clause 29, “Gambling addiction: support for offenders”. I thank the Minister and the Ministry of Justice, the NHS, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department of Health and Social Care for their sustained engagement and understanding on this topic. These are probing amendments, and I will withdraw them. However, I wish to highlight the real urgency with which we must treat gambling disorder with parity of esteem to drug and alcohol addiction in the criminal justice system.

Gambling can be a fun hobby which many of us enjoy—even I like a flutter on the lottery and have a soft spot for bingo. But what begins as the odd bet or game can quickly escalate, and some sadly spiral into problem gambling. Once an addiction takes hold, disordered gambling can break down families, cause people to lose their jobs and may trigger criminal behaviour. Those affected may turn to acquisitive crime to fund their addiction or pay their debts, and affected others may turn to crime to recoup their partner’s debts. Problem gambling is associated with not only acquisitive crimes, but street violence, domestic abuse and neglect. That, of course, leads to many harms for the person themselves, their families and the victims of their crimes.

Although the link between problem gambling and crime remains relatively under-researched, the available evidence illuminates several concerning trends. Problem gamblers are over four times more likely to be in prison. While there are examples of good support specific to problem gambling, there is currently no statutory requirement to provide treatment to people convicted of gambling-related offences. I have received reports of people with problem gambling only being given treatment designed for drug or alcohol dependency, general mental health support or no treatment at all. None of those options treats the very specific and complex issues related to problem gambling and crime. Without this, people risk entering a cycle of reoffending, with harms escalating each time and more and more victims.

I was given a case recently in which a woman who developed a gambling addiction after a traumatic life event received no support during her custodial sentence. She was instead directed to a drugs and alcohol course, which she found incredibly unhelpful. In another case, a man imprisoned was not offered any treatment in custody at all and experienced a rife culture of gambling while in prison. He left prison with no treatment and no path to recovery.

It must be acknowledged that in many cases, gambling disorder is one part of a wider network of vulnerabilities contributing to offending and reoffending. Problem gamblers often struggle with alcohol or drug misuse, mental health issues or underlying trauma.

[Linsey Farnsworth (Amber Valley) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is making a powerful case that I wholeheartedly support. She is outlining not only the real problems that gambling addiction causes but the trauma that often leads to it, which shows how important rehabilitation is. We have heard much from Opposition Members today about how everybody should be punished and how this Bill is a soft option. Does my hon. Friend agree that requiring people to drill down into the causes of their offending is far from an easy option? It is a very difficult thing to ask people to do, and it is essential that we give them the support they need to look at their life and turn it around.

[Dr Gardner]

I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention, and I wholeheartedly agree. Prison should be rehabilitative. Any offender should have that support, to prevent reoffending. It is right for our society, it is right for potential victims, and it is right for offenders, who often resort to criminality due to very severe personal circumstances and trauma.

Gambling disorder is recognised as a mental health condition. Leading mental health assessment tools such as the DSM-5—the fifth edition of the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders”—and the World Health Organisation’s international classification of diseases classify gambling as an addiction with similar cognitive and psychological effects to those of substance use disorders. Research indicates that once an individual begins chasing their gambling losses with further gambling, their cognitive functioning becomes impaired. Changes can occur in brain chemistry and neurocognitive function, and the ability to make rational decisions—such as choosing whether to engage in criminal behaviour to manage debts or to continue gambling—becomes compromised. There is the link.

The criminal justice system recognises the psychological impact of drug and alcohol dependency. Drug and alcohol dependency are mitigating factors, with sentencing guidelines, treatment pathways and rehabilitation requirements, as set out in the Sentencing Act 2020.

[Anna Dixon (Shipley) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is making a very strong argument, drawing parallels between gambling addiction and drug and alcohol abuse. Earlier this year, as a member of the Public Accounts Committee, I questioned Government officials about the endemic use of drugs in prisons. The Carol Black report looked at this back in 2020—

--- Later in debate ---

[Anna Dixon]

A lot of drug users are repeat offenders, as my hon. Friend was saying about those with a gambling addiction. Does she agree that a shift to community provision might enable people to get the rehabilitation they need for their addiction, whether it be drugs, alcohol or gambling?

[Dr Gardner]

I do. I reiterate that to break the cycle of reoffending or recidivism, rehabilitation must be at the heart of all sentencing and punishment, be it community or custodial.

Under the Sentencing Act 2020, an individual suffering from drug and alcohol addiction receives targeted support through the alcohol treatment and drug treatment requirements for community orders and suspended sentences, yet no such legislation ensures that individuals serving community orders or suspended sentences for gambling- related offences seek rehabilitative treatment. Pre-sentence reports can include problem gambling, and the court may decide that an offender is suitable for a mental health treatment requirement as part of a community order or suspended sentence. However, although problem gambling is associated with depression and a heightened risk of suicide, the mental health treatment requirement does not directly treat gambling disorder.