Lords Committee to Hold Double Evidence Session Related to Problem Gambling, Advertising and Impact on Children

The House of Lords Select Committee on the Social and Economic Impact of the Gambling Industry is going to hold two evidence sessions on July 23. Speaking to the Committee will be academics specialising in the psychology of gambling behaviour and representatives from the Advisory Board for Safer Gambling and the Gambling Commission.

Professor Jim Orford, Emeritus Professor of Clinical and Community Psychology, University of Birmingham, and Dr. Heather Wardle, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, will give evidence to the Committee at 3.20 pm in Committee Room 4.

The questions will focus on the current levels of problem gambling in the UK; nature of “gambling harm,” how it is distributed and what causes it; impact of gambling advertising, especially on children; and whether children should be allowed to gamble, including playing the lottery and category D machines.

Dr. Anna van der Gaag, Chair of the Advisory Board for Safer Gambling, and Tim Miller, Executive Director, Gambling Commission will give evidence to the Committee at 4.15 pm in Committee Room 4.

Questions will focus on whether there is adequate research for policy makers to make evidence-based decisions; data available for researchers; cost of gambling in the UK and how that cost is calculated; and advertising and the impact on children.