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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what comparative assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness (a) voluntary and (b) compulsory contributions for the (i) research, (ii) education and (iii) treatment of gambling disorders.

The Gambling Commission requires all operators licensed under the Gambling Act 2005 to make a contribution towards the research, prevention and treatment of gambling-related harm. It does not specify how much this should be, nor which organisations should be supported.

GambleAware is the leading charity commissioning research, education and treatment, and currently asks operators to donate a minimum of 0.1% of their Gross Gambling Yield (GGY). Most do, with GambleAware receiving £9.4m in 2017/18. Industry also made donations to other bodies supporting research, education and treatment, bringing industry’s collective support for RET to above 0.1% of its GGY.

We considered research, education and treatment as part of our Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility and published our response on 17 May. The Review looked at protections across the gambling industry and support for those who experience harm, including the arrangements for funding support.

We want to see an effective and sustainable voluntary system, with improved coordination and better understanding of what measures are most effective to ensure future funding increases will be spent in the most effective way. Our response outlined a number of initiatives for improving the current system, increasing access to services and strengthening the evidence base. The Government does not consider that introducing a statutory levy is necessary or appropriate at this stage.