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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the current level of gambling addiction in the United Kingdom, and the comparable figure from before the coming into force of the Gambling Act 2005.

The England and Scotland Health Surveys and the British Gambling Prevalence Surveys contain data on problem gambling levels going back to 1999. The approach and methodology for these different surveys are broadly comparable and show that there has been very little significant change in the levels of problem gambling since 1999, with current levels at around 0.5% of the adult population compared to 0.8% in 1999. Nevertheless the Government remains determined to tackle problem gambling and is working with the Gambling Commission and the industry to improve measures to prevent harm.