Call for fresh tax on gambling operators to tackle social problems

Report criticises lack of funding for the prevention of harm as a result of gambling addiction. Picture: contributed

A radical overhaul of gambling laws are needed to help tackle the scale of the problem of people addicted to betting and slot machines, academics have warned in a paper published today.

The report said a tax on the gambling industry should be introduced to fund programmes to help prevent gambling problems, while those who have already found themselves affected by the addiction could be given extra support. It also called for the responsibility of gambling to come under the jurisdiction of the UK government’s health department.

The paper – Gambling and public health: we need policy action to prevent harm – published today in the BMJ by a group of academics including researchers from the University of Glasgow, claims that the extent and cost of gambling has been significantly underestimated in Britain. Last year, less than £1.5 million was spent on prevention activity in the UK, for a population of 65 million. In contrast, New Zealand has an annual budget of over £9.3m for prevention for a population of 4.7 million.

The academics – from Scotland, England, Wales and Australia – say there is no government strategy for preventing gambling harm and said there is a critical need to increase the funding available for prevention if harms are to be reduced.

Professor Gerda Reith, the University of Glasgow’s professor of social sciences and an author on the paper, said: “As a society we need to face up to the broad environment that gambling harm is produced in – the role of the industry, as well as the policy climate that they operate in.

“Gambling doesn’t just affect an individual. The impacts ripple out beyond them to their family, friends, communities and society.”

She added: “Gambling harms disproportionately affect poorer or more vulnerable groups in ways that can exacerbate existing inequalities. We urgently need a marked change in approach, and one that is long overdue.”

The Gambling Commission’s new age verification rules came into effect earlier this week, meaning people have to prove their age before they can begin betting online.

The paper says there are now 33 million active online gambling accounts in Britain. The authors also point out that 14 per cent of children aged 11 to 16 have gambled in the past week, with around 55,000 reporting problems from their gambling behaviour.

In Britain, conservative estimates of social costs range from between £200m and £1.2 billion a year.