Gambling - Gambling Commission's response to RGSB report.

The Gambling Commission has now published its response to the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board (RGSB) report ‘Trends in Children’s Gambling’.

The response is qualified as it is the Commission’s initial response to the RGSB report and identifies further work which will be required to be undertaken before definitive policy can be drawn up.

The main topics of the report and conclusions are:

Access and exposure to gambling by children and young people – The Commission agrees with the RGSB’s call for greater public debate about the role and position of gambling in society and what actions are appropriate and proportionate to achieve the necessary levels of protection for children and young people.

• Digital and online risks – The Commission consider they have already been proactive in dealing with such issue.  The Commission commit to continuing this progress and to explore the role they can play in working with international regulators to tackle common risks, to continue to put pressure on businesses to tackle illegal gambling and to support the tackling of gambling-related harm as a public health issue.
• Education and treatment – In response to the RGSB call for more a ‘joined up’ strategic approach to preventative education and treatment the Commission have committed over the next year, “we will work with our partners to reflect cross-government and public sector work in national strategic plans for preventative education and treatment services”.
• Evidence collection and consumer engagement: The Commission aims to make policy decisions based on  effective evidence collection and consumer engagement. The Commission has committed to working with partners to measure gambling-related harms (including over time on children and young people), and to work to plug gaps in the evidence base on 16 and 17 year olds and patterns of play over time.

This is an ever evolving issue, we shall keep you updated.