Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered question first ministerially corrected answering member label previous answer version answering member constituency answering member printed answering member
tabling member	label

Search

1238380

registered interest
date	28/09/2020
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Gambling: Suicide
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the provisions of the Gambling Act 2005 on (a) levels of gambling-related harm and (b) rates of gambling-related suicide.
tabling member constituency	North West Durham
tabling member printed	Mr Richard Holden
uin	96210
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/10/2020 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">The government launched a call for evidence on loot boxes on 23 September 2020 to seek detailed information on the impact of loot boxes on players, particularly children and young people. The call for evidence will run until 22 November 2020 and will examine concerns that loot boxes may encourage gambling-like behaviour and lead to problem gambling, as well as examining the size and scale of the loot box market in the UK, and the impact of current voluntary and statutory protections.</del></p><p><del class="ministerial">The government stands ready to take action should the outcomes of the call for evidence support taking a new approach to ensure users, and particularly young people, are better protected.</del></p><p><ins class="ministerial">Since 1999 rates of problem gambling have been measured through the three British Gambling Prevalence Surveys and subsequently in the Health Surveys for Scotland and England and the Gambling Commission’s survey of gambling behaviour in Wales. The proportion of the adult population of Great Britain who are considered to be problem gamblers has remained stable at below 1% since the first survey in 1999. The government has committed to review the Gambling Act 2005 to make sure it is fit for the digital age and more details will be announced in due course. </ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">As set out in answer to Question 82541, there has been no assessment of the longer term trends in rates of gambling related suicide. Determining factors related to individual deaths by suicide is difficult and complicated, but we know that there may be wider lifestyle factors associated with problem gambling that may link to poor mental health, and that problem gambling can create a cycle of debt that can also have a significant impact on mental health and wellbeing. In extreme cases it may lead to thoughts of suicide.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">The Government committed to addressing suicide risk and gambling in the latest progress report to the National Suicide Prevention Strategy and the Cross-Government Suicide Prevention Workplan, which were published in January 2019.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"><strong></strong></ins><br /><br /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Mid Worcestershire answering member printed Nigel Huddleston question first answered 01/10/2020 13:58:33 question first ministerially corrected 02/10/2020 14:32:38 answering member 4407 label Biography information for Nigel Huddleston previous answer version 51207 answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage answering member 4008
tabling member	4813 label Biography information for Mr Richard Holden

1218244

registered interest
date	26/06/2020
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Gambling: Suicide
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Advisory Board for Safer Gambling report, Progress Report on the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms, published on 26 June 2020, what steps he is taking to ensure that the Gambling Commission makes progress on tackling gambling related suicide.
tabling member constituency	Swansea East
tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
uin	65167
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/07/2020 answer text <p>The Gambling Commission’s role is to license and regulate commercial gambling in Great Britain, advising the Government on matters relating to gambling and ensuring that operators abide by strict requirements intended to keep gambling fair and open and crime free and to protect children and vulnerable people.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Operators providing gambling facilities to customers in Great Britain must be licensed by the Commission and comply with the conditions of their operating licences. It expects them to obey the laws of all other jurisdictions in which they operate, and requires them to report any regulatory investigation or finding into their activities in any other jurisdiction. They must inform the Commission if they have a substantial customer base outside of Britain and state why they consider they are legally able to offer facilities to those customers.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Requiring the Commission to complete, publish and maintain a jurisdiction by jurisdiction legal analysis of a range of combinations of products and supply arrangements would require a significant expenditure of resource in an area which does not relate to its core responsibility to regulate gambling in Great Britain. The Commission considers it is for operators to satisfy themselves that they are acting in a lawful manner in other jurisdictions and if they are found not to be, it will re-assess their suitability to hold a licence to offer gambling services in Britain.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Commission’s list of research, prevention and treatment organisations is intended to give clarity to operators on where they may direct funding to satisfy the licence condition requirement of an annual financial contribution. It requires organisations on the list to demonstrate suitable independent oversight, such as regulation by the Charity Commission, and to make a commitment to collaborate with other bodies in order to prioritise actions to reduce gambling harms.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>In March 2020 the Commission amended its licence conditions and codes of practice to make it mandatory for operators to be integrated to GAMSTOP, the multi-operator self-exclusion scheme. The charity GambleAware has commissioned the first phase of a study to assess the impact of multi-operator self-exclusion schemes, including those for online gambling. This first phase is nearing publication and we will consider its findings carefully.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Advisory Board for Safer Gambling’s Progress Report on the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms made a number of recommendations on gambling-related suicide, but these are within the remit of bodies other than the Commission. The Government is considering the report carefully.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Mid Worcestershire answering member printed Nigel Huddleston grouped question UIN 65168 65169 65170 65171 65172 65173 question first answered 06/07/2020 17:16:35 answering member 4407 label Biography information for Nigel Huddleston
tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris

1385853

registered interest
date	07/12/2021
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Gambling: Suicide
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, (a) how many customer suicides have been reported by gambling operators for the past three years, (b) which operators have reported these and (c) how many of these suicides have been investigated by the Gambling Commission.
tabling member constituency	Swansea East
tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
uin	88799
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/12/2021 answer text <p>Since the start of 2018, the Gambling Commission has been notified of and investigated reports of eight deaths by suicide where gambling may have been a factor. Seven of these cases were reported to it by the operator and one by family members. Operators who are aware of a death by suicide which may be linked to their gambling facilities are expected to notify the Commission so that the Commission can investigate whether there has been a breach of social responsibility codes and licence conditions and whether enforcement action is appropriate. It does not publish the names of operators which have reported information about deaths, but details of its findings following concluded enforcement action are published on its website.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 14/12/2021 09:39:24 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris

1404973

registered interest
date	20/01/2022
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Gambling: Suicide
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2021 to Question 88799, what assessment she has made of the reasons for the Gambling Commission investigating a total of eight deaths by suicide where gambling may have been a factor since the start of 2018, in the context of Public Health England's September 2021 estimate that there are 409 gambling-related suicides a year; and in relation to those eight investigations, how many times the Commission reported the findings of its investigation to the coroner conducting the inquest into each death.
tabling member constituency	Swansea East
tabling member printed	Carolyn Harris
uin	108578
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/01/2022 answer text <p>The Government does not collect statistics on suicides where gambling may have been a factor, although Public Health England’s evidence review estimated on the basis of two overseas studies that there may be 409 such deaths each year. The Department of Health and Social Care is working to improve data collection and address other evidence gaps identified in the report.</p><p>Operators who are aware of a death by suicide which may be linked to their gambling facilities are expected to notify the Gambling Commission so that it can investigate whether there has been a breach of social responsibility codes and take action where appropriate. Coroners’ jurisdiction does not extend to determining the underlying reasons for a person’s death, and the Commission does not routinely notify them of its findings. However, it has assisted a coroner in making their overall findings on the circumstances of an individual’s death in two cases since the beginning of 2018. The Commission co-operates with coroner inquiries whenever they are made, usually by providing information about the regulation of the gambling industry.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 27/01/2022 14:58:44 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4480 label Biography information for Carolyn Harris

1548385

registered interest
date	05/12/2022
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Gambling: Suicide
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the (a) adequacy of the methodology used and (b) accuracy of the estimates of the level of suicides associated with problem gambling in the report by Public Health England entitled Gambling-related harms: evidence review, published on 30 September 2021.
tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
tabling member printed	Scott Benton
uin	102997
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/12/2022 answer text <p>The Department for Health and Social Care is undertaking a review and update of the Public Health England report ‘Gambling-related harms evidence review: the economic and social cost of harms’, to assess the accuracy of its estimates of suicide numbers. The updated report is in the final stage of review and will be published soon.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully grouped question UIN 103031 question first answered 13/12/2022 12:00:52 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
tabling member	4793 label Biography information for Scott Benton

1548917

registered interest
date	06/12/2022
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Gambling: Suicide
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Answer of 3 October 2022 to Question 51665 on Gambling: Addictions, for what reasons the Gambling Commission did not inform her Department that it considered Public Health England’s estimate of the number of suicides in England associated with problem gambling to be inaccurate.
tabling member constituency	North West Leicestershire
tabling member printed	Andrew Bridgen
uin	104170
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/12/2022 answer text <p>The Gambling Commission is not required to produce an assessment of the work of other public bodies, and, unless formally requested to do so, it is not required to provide formal advice to the Department on its views regarding particular pieces of research or evidence. However, DCMS officials have regular discussions with the Commission on a range of issues relating to gambling regulation and the evidence on gambling, and this has included the Public Health England evidence report.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully grouped question UIN 104171 question first answered 13/12/2022 15:30:01 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
tabling member	4133 label Biography information for Andrew Bridgen