Gambling-related harm targeted in ground-breaking study

Two local authorities are the first in the UK to map people at risk of gambling-related harm in their communities. This comes before a change to regulations on April 6th, which will require all gambling premises to prepare a local area risk assessment.

Westminster City Council and Manchester City Council teamed up with Geofutures to produce the report. The two local councils found similar concerns about gambling and decided to work together with the support the Local Government Association to identify and map at-risk individuals within the two cities.

It is hoped that this information will help make it easier to understand the potential impact of gambling premises, and better inform decisions about new outlets. The research maps available, one for Westminster and one for Manchester, look at key factors in vulnerability such as mental health as well as mapping the location of facilities such as drug and alcohol treatment centres.

Nigel Murphy, a Councillor on Manchester City Council’s executive member for neighbourhoods, said: “People living with gambling problems do not draw attention to themselves, and the issue has been very hard for authorities to deal with because so little is known about who these people are.

“This is a cutting edge piece of research that has never been done before, and will enable us to understand who is at risk of developing a gambling problem and where these groups can be found. We will be able to use this information whenever we develop new policies to deal with gambling venues across the city.”

Councillor Nickie Aiken, a Westminster City Council cabinet member for public protection and chairman of Westminster’s licensing committee, said: “This is a really valuable piece of research that will help us to address gambling related harm in our communities.

“We are not against the gambling industry per se, but we think that it is important to understand the impact on areas in which they operate. It is in the best interests of those running gambling premises to reduce these negative impacts. This research is a major step forward – it will make for better local decisions and help deliver real practical change to people’s lives.”

Heather Wardle, Head of Gambling at Geofutures, said: “Our maps show the places in Westminster and Manchester where those people most at risk from gambling harm are likely to be. This gives both local authorities and any gambling operators a unique opportunity to use this insight in their local area risk assessments. There is a great chance here for new policies and procedures to be put in place to protect vulnerable people in each area.”

The Gambling Commission’s lead for shared regulation, Rob Burkitt, welcomed the publication in saying: “This report marks another significant milestone in equipping licensing authorities with the tools they need to develop a local area profile that can inform their Statement of Policy and approach to licensing and compliance. The Commission will continue to work closely with all concerned in disseminating this work and identifying how it may best be developed further.”

Councillor Tony Page, the Local Government Association’s licensing spokesman, said: “The LGA is very pleased to have supported this project, and with the tools that have been produced from it. Licensing authorities and gambling operators all have a responsibility to help protect those who are vulnerable to harm from gambling, and this ground-breaking research will be of huge assistance in ensuring their efforts to protect people are properly targeted.

“The LGA supported this work in order that the findings could be made available to all licensing authorities, and we will be working with Westminster, Manchester and Geofutures to discuss the best way to ensure other authorities are able to make use of this approach in the future.”