Lords recommend ban on gamblings ads

The House of Lords Liaison Committee has called on the Government to implement a comprehensive ban on gambling advertising as the most effective
way to reduce gambling harms.

The Committee has published their findings which follow on from a July 2020 report on gambling harm. They recognise that 1.0 to 1.5 million adults in the UK suffer from problem gambling and the harms associated with it. They also acknowledge that the gambling industry is reliant on a small number of higher spending customers and profits from those in more deprived areas of the country.

The report accuses recent governments of being “far too passive in reacting to the transformative explosion of digital advertising and to the development of new techniques” and reluctant to pursue policy measure that reduce the level of gambling advertising.

While not everyone who gambles experiences problem gambling or gambling-related harm, the Lords note that “no form of gambling can be considered safe and different products are associated with different levels of risk.” That gambling harm is a public health issue has been recognised by the government, so Peers are calling on the government to apply a public health approach to gambling advertising, citing strong evidence of a link between gambling advertising and gambling harm.

The report calls for a “comprehensive ban” on advertising as the most effective route to reduce gambling harm, and for such a ban to be implemented “as soon as practical”. The recommend that advertising should be banned both on television and online, and that gambling sponsorship in sport should be scrapped. The Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, backed a ban on sponsorship while Mayor of Greater Manchester, saying “together we can relegate gambling sponsorship of sport to the history books”.

One of the key points from the report is that the twin aims of reducing gambling harm, and growing the gambling industry, are fundamentally incompatible. The Committee therefore recommends that the Government should “abandon its objective to facilitate the growth of the gambling industry”.

Gambling firms have complained that these measures will lead to the gambling sector shrinking. However, Lord Foster of Bath, confirmed that this was the aim: “There will be that reduction. Nobody is remotely denying it. Indeed, that’s what we want to happen. I want the gambling companies to be making less money.”