Finance (No. 2) Bill (Fourth sitting)

Richard Thomson Excerpts

Wednesday 5th January 2022 Public Bill Committees

[Richard Thomson (Gordon) (SNP)]

I rise to speak to new clause 11. For far too many people, gambling is not something that falls into the category of harmless fun. There are many harms associated with gambling. There are the financial harms, obviously, when someone’s luck is not with them. There are the short-term harms and the harms of long-term debt. There are the addictive and compulsive behaviours associated with gambling. There is the harm to individual wellbeing in terms of mental and physical health, and to the friends and families of those engaged in the harmful behaviours associated with gambling.

To get to the nub of it, duties are obviously charged on casino gaming products, but there are also social responsibilities on those who provide such experiences. Frankly, in deciding the balance in terms of where tax is levied, we need to be able to assess the impact and volume of gambling and its wider impact on public health. That is what new clause 11 would do. We do not intend to push it to a vote, but the Government need to be mindful of this issue, and they should assess and have the evidence basis for the changes that they make, so they can set appropriate policy in the future, for all the reasons I have outlined.

[Abena Oppong-Asare]

The SNP has tabled new clause 11 on the volume of gambling and public health, and I think there was a similar proposal last year. It is interesting to compare the uprating of these bands, to prevent casinos from paying more tax simply as a result of inflation, with the Government’s decision to freeze the income tax personal allowance, which of course increases the tax ordinary people will pay as a result of wage inflation. Perhaps the Minister would like to comment on that.

I also want to say a little about gambling harm and the Treasury’s role in tackling it. The Minister will be aware of the recent report by Public Health England on gambling-related harms. PHE estimated that the annual economic burden of harmful gambling is approximately £1.27 billion. It is estimated that £647.2 million of that is a direct cost to Government. In the Government’s consultation on the review of the Gambling Act 2005, they asked about

“the most effective system for recouping the regulatory and societal costs of gambling from operators, for instance through taxes, licence fees or statutory levies”.

What progress has the Treasury made on that? Is it considering a new tax or levy on the industry to pay for the social costs of gambling? If so, does it intend to bring such a measure forward?