Dormant Betting Accounts

Tracey Crouch Excerpts

Tuesday 5th July 2016 Westminster Hall

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Tracey Crouch)]

On day two after returning from maternity leave, I already have the honour and pleasure of serving under your chairmanship, Mr Hollobone. I place on record my thanks to my colleague and right hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Mr Evennett) for covering my portfolio for the past five months. I also take this opportunity to congratulate the hon. Member for Luton North (Kelvin Hopkins) on his appointment. We have worked together on many issues, not least due to our shared interest in alcohol addiction. This is an opportunity for him to use his freedom to make policy while nobody is looking. Go for it!

I congratulate the hon. Member for Inverclyde (Ronnie Cowan) on securing this debate. I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss dormant betting accounts and the incredibly important issue of research, education and treatment for gambling-related harm. I thank the other hon. Members who have participated in this debate for their informed and helpful contributions.

Gambling is a legitimate leisure activity enjoyed by many people, but I am absolutely clear that we must do all that we can to protect vulnerable people from gambling-related harm. Hon. Members may well be aware that I am extremely passionate about this issue and have championed it for many years. I will touch on that in more detail in a bit, but first I will concentrate on dormant accounts and unclaimed winnings, which is worthy of consideration in some detail.

“Dormant accounts” tends to refer to online or telephone accounts in which a customer has deposited funds and which have then seen no activity for a set period. That time period, as others have said, varies between operators and can be anything from a few months to more than two years. If the account remains dormant beyond that period, many operators will absorb the funds into their profit line.

The previous Government commissioned an independent report to investigate whether unclaimed winnings or money in dormant accounts could be put to good use. The report was undertaken by Lord Foster of Bath, and acknowledged a number of practical, technical and legal issues that would need to be considered in order to take forward any proposals in the area. One of the report’s key findings was the lack of information about how much cash was lying dormant in such accounts. Further work would need to be explored, either in voluntary discussions with the operators or by introducing a new licence condition via the Gambling Commission, although I heard what the hon. Member for Inverclyde said about his own approach to getting some of that information from the operators.

In my view, any additional money for the treatment of gambling harm must be a good thing. Therefore, I see the potential benefits of directing funds that have been left dormant for a set period of time towards education on gambling-related harm, research into it, treatment and prevention. Members may be aware of the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2008, which allows the Government to direct money left untouched in bank and building society accounts for more than 15 years to good causes.

In March this year, a new independent commission on dormant assets was established to support Government, to identify additional pools of unclaimed assets and to work with industry to encourage the voluntary contribution of those assets to good causes. The commission will report and make recommendations to Government on the feasibility of expanding the dormant assets scheme before the end of the year, and it is considering unclaimed gambling winnings as part of its asset scoping work. Relevant sector organisations, including the Gambling Commission, have provided submissions to the call for evidence. Officials from my Department are in contact with colleagues at the Cabinet Office, and I will stress to them the need to work closely together, to see what progress can be made as part of the forthcoming recommendations on the feasibility of expanding the dormant assets scheme.

I have taken a close interest in gambling addiction for some time. By all accounts, it is the silent addiction—the one that gets the least interest and funding, especially compared with drugs and alcohol. Sadly, there is often a link between gambling addiction and other addictions that might not always be identified. Therefore, as the secondary harm, gambling addiction might well go unnoticed until it is too late. Research indicates that the vast majority of those who gamble do so without problems and overall rates of problem gambling remain low, at less than 1% of the total adult population, yet I am sure that we are all acutely aware of the devastation that gambling addiction can cause. The NHS website estimates that there are nearly 600,000 problem gamblers in Great Britain. I was struck by GamCare’s estimate that for each problem gambler, there may be 10 to 15 other people whose lives are adversely affected by their activities.

The health implications of problem gambling are such that there is a clear overlap with public health policy and practice, especially on mental health issues and substance misuse. I have spoken with my ministerial colleagues in the Department of Health, and officials from that Department and mine have met to discuss the issue. My officials continue to take this work forward.

Returning to funding for gambling-related harm, it would be remiss of me not to highlight that the gambling industry contributed more than £7 million to the Responsible Gambling Trust to fund research, education and treatment for gambling-related harm last year. Under their current licence requirements, all gambling operators must make an annual financial contribution to one or more organisations that perform research, education and treatment. The vast majority choose to contribute to the RGT, the leading charity in the UK committed to minimising gambling-related harm, which aims to prevent people from getting into problems with gambling and ensure that those who do develop problems receive fast and effective treatment and support.

The RGT’s funding priorities are guided by the national strategy advised by the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board and endorsed by the Gambling Commission. I was heartened to see in the national responsible gambling strategy that the gambling industry is now committing significant resources to harm minimisation, over and above its voluntary contributions to the RGT.

[Kelvin Hopkins]

The Minister mentioned the staggering figure of 600,000 problem gamblers. That requires more than rehab and treatment; it requires measures to prevent people from getting into that situation in the first place.

[Tracey Crouch]

I agree completely. I know people who have lost everything in their lives to gambling. We must ensure that we work across Government not just to tackle harm but to prevent people from getting into such situations in the first place. The one thing that I know about gambling is that it is pretty indiscriminate in terms of who becomes addicted, much like addictions to alcohol or drugs. When we talk about vulnerable people, and especially when we talk about gambling in general, we often think about deprived communities—I see it in my own community in Chatham—but the truth is that people from any walk of life can become addicted to gambling and lose absolutely everything as a consequence. That is why we have to do much more on prevention and treatment of gambling.

To return to what we are doing in research, education and treatment, it is clear from the strategy that gambling-related harm is a complex area—I know that at first hand from speaking to people in my constituency, from knowing individuals and from reading the letters I have received as Minister responsible for gambling policy. I therefore welcome the work undertaken by the RGSB in the national responsible gambling strategy published in April. For the first time, the strategy was put out for public consultation and subsequently agreed by all those who have implementation responsibilities. It will help the industry, the Gambling Commission and the Government to focus our responses, and indeed our resources. The areas that the strategy will support include setting research priorities and determining best practice in preventive measures, effective treatment and targeted interventions aimed at reducing gambling-related harm. The RGSB is now working with the RGT to estimate the costs of the activities identified in the strategy, and the Government will work very closely with the Gambling Commission and the RGSB on its implications.

The hon. Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Patricia Gibson) made the point that this is a debate about principle, and she is right. Let me be clear: I am sympathetic to the principle. There are practical issues that need to be discussed, but my view is that every extra pound put into preventing or treating gambling harm is a good thing. I thank the hon. Member for Inverclyde again for securing this debate and other Members for their valuable and informed contributions. I take problem gambling seriously and am deeply committed to ensuring that the gambling industry makes appropriate contributions to these important areas, including funding programmes of research, prevention and treatment of gambling-related harm. It is clear that Members who have spoken so passionately on this issue today and in other debates share that aim.