Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of whether the gambling industry has invested 0.1 per cent of gross gaming yield in supporting those who suffer from gambling-related harm in the last year.

In its Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice the Gambling Commission requires all operators licensed under the Gambling Act 2005 to make a contribution towards the research, prevention and treatment of gambling-related harm. The Commission does not specify how much this should be nor which organisation should receive it, although it highlights that GambleAware is the principal funding body for RET (research, education, treatment). The gross gambling yield for those operators in 2016/17 was £10.7bn, and they collectively contributed over £8m to GambleAware. In addition, the industry also made donations directly to charities providing support for those suffering from gambling related harm, and funded other initiatives such as Senet’s ‘When The Fun Stops Stop’ campaign. In 2016/17 Senet funding was £1.7m.

In January 2017 the Gambling Commission’s expert advisers, the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board (RGSB) estimated that £9.3m, excluding GambleAware costs, would be required in 2017/18 to support the strategic priorities for RET that it had identified. The consultation on proposals for changes to Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility, published on 31 October, makes clear that government expects the gambling industry to increase funding to meet the targets for future years identified in the RGSB and GambleAware strategies.