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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the percentage of the public who have experienced serious gambling-related harm.

As set out in Public Health England’s (PHE) evidence review of gambling-related harms, the most commonly used screening tools - the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) - categorise gambling-related harm as either low-risk, moderate-risk, or problem gambling, with problem gambling defined as gambling with negative consequences and a possible lack of control. PHE’s review found the problem gambling rate for England was estimated as 0.5% in 2018, and has been relatively stable since 2012. The 2016 Combined Health survey reported an overall rate of problem gambling for adults in Great Britain of 0.7%.

To supplement the Health Surveys, the Gambling Commission carries out a quarterly survey by telephone which uses a short-form PGSI screening to define problem gambling status. For the year to December 2021, this estimated a problem gambling rate of 0.3%.

The Gambling Commission’s ‘Young People and Gambling’ report has measured gambling behaviour in children since 2014, including problem gambling using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition Adapted for Juveniles. In 2019, the most recent year for which the survey has been based on complete data, the rate for 11-16 year olds in England, Scotland and Wales was 1.7%.