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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of commissioning a longitudinal study of gambling-related harm.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) works closely with the Department for Health and Social Care and wider government on matters related to gambling harm, and the departments share regular updates, including on the forthcoming evidence review being carried out by Public Health England. The Gambling Commission has no role in the delivery of PHE's evidence review, but DCMS and the Commission work closely together to monitor the wider evidence base on gambling harms.

The Gambling Commission commissioned and published a scoping review looking at the feasibility of a longitudinal study of gambling behaviours and problem gambling, and how that study would best be conducted, and the Commission is now considering next steps.