Fourth delay to gambling whitepaper 'inexcusable', CARE says

Press release: A further delay to vital gambling reform plans is "inexcusable" and will cause "untold grief", CARE has said.

Last night, it emerged that a whitepaper on gambling reform will now not be published due to chaos in the Conservative Party.

The document was ready to be signed off before Boris Johnson's resignation. Officials now advise waiting for the new PM to be in post.

The delay is the fourth since 2020, when a review of gambling laws was ordered by government, given colossal gambling-related harms.

Tim Cairns, Senior Policy Officer at CARE, which has spearheaded calls for reform of gambling laws across the UK, commented:

“A further delay to the publication of the long-awaited white paper on gambling reform is inexcusable. The paper was reportedly ready to be signed off and was a culmination of many months of work and consultation with experts and campaigners. There is a democratic and a moral case for green lighting this proposal, and finally allowing parliamentarians to get to grips with it.

“Every day in the UK a person takes their own life because of gambling-related harm. Delaying reform will only cause more, untold grief. Given reports that key reforms, such as an industry levy, were to be dropped from the whitepaper, any new Conservative leader coming into office must ask whose side they are on. Will they fight to help the vulnerable? Or side with the gambling industry?

“Reform needs to be comprehensive. Curbs need to be placed on advertising, on the relationship between gambling and sport, and measures are needed to ensure children are kept safe. Given the cost to society of gambling-related harm, a meaningful statutory levy needs to be put in place. The industry should be forced to pay for the harm it creates, not the NHS and taxpayers.”

ENDS

About CARE

Christian Action Research and Education (CARE) provides analysis of social policy from a Christian perspective. For more information or to request an interview, contact Jamie Gillies | jamie.gillies@care.org.uk

Notes for Editors

Useful facts/statistics

• There are an estimated 400,000 'problem gamblers' in the UK
• On average, one problem gambler commits suicide every single day.
• Two thirds of adults believe companies aren't taking addiction seriously.
• 30 MPs received gifts from gambling agencies ahead of the review

A review of evidence on gambling-related harms in Sept 21 found:

• The annual economic burden of harmful gambling is approximately £1.27 billion.
• The overall estimated excess cost of health harms is £961.3 million.
• Financial harms focused on homelessness is estimated to be £62.8 million
• The estimated excess cost of suicide is £619.2 million
• The estimated excess cost of depression is £335.5 million
• The estimated excess cost of alcohol dependence is £4.7 million
• The estimated excess cost of illicit drug use is £2.0 million
• The excess cost of employment-related harms is estimated to be £79.5 million