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

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote research on the types and extent of financial harms experienced by people who gamble.

While millions of people gamble without experiencing problems, for some it becomes an addiction with serious consequences. His Majesty’s Government recognises the importance of continuing to collect data, evidence, and research into the types of harms experienced by problem gamblers.

The Gambling Commission is undertaking a project to improve the way it collects data on adult gambling participation and the incidence, nature, and severity of harm experienced as a result of gambling, whether one’s own or someone else’s. This will inform the new Gambling Survey for Great Britain, which the Commission aims to launch this year. This will support future research and provide decision-makers with a strong evidence base.

The Government will introduce a statutory levy, part of which will be dedicated to funding research to help improve the evidence base on gambling. A consultation on the levy will be published later this summer.

Our Gambling Act review White Paper also committed to working with UK Research & Innovation to stimulate interest in gambling as a research field among researchers across a range of academic disciplines.