Issue - meetings

The Panel considered the report of the Scrutiny Manager informing the Panel that, in accordance with the Inquiry Plan, at the fourth meeting of the inquiry the Panel will be considering the importance of early identification of those who have recently started to engage in at-risk gambling behaviour to prevent escalation of (and ideally reduce) any early-stage gambling-related harms.

Secondary prevention - Early identification of those who have recently started to engage in at-risk gambling behaviour to prevent escalation of (and ideally reduce) any early-stage gambling-related harms.

Summary of information provided:

1) Harmful Gambling and Tenancy Insecurity for Birmingham City Council Tenants – Dr Halima Sacranie, Director of Housing Research at the Centre for the New Midlands & Professor Andy Lymer, Director of the Centre for Personal Financial Wellbeing at Aston University

• A presentation was delivered by Dr Sacranie and Prof Lymer, outlining the key findings from a project with Birmingham City Council to understand the links between gambling harm and tenancy insecurity and the development of an intervention framework.

Key points raised in the presentation included:

• A 2-year Centre for Personal Financial Wellbeing (CPFW), Aston University, project with Birmingham City Council (BCC).
• Aim - Understand the links between gambling harm and tenancy insecurity and help develop intervention strategies to prevent tenancy loss as a result.
• Project cost £300k - Funded by the Regulatory Settlement Funds of the UK’s Gambling Commission (cost for other LAs to replicate this approach would be significantly lower).
• Harmful Gambling and Tenancy Security online survey sent to 57,333 BCC council tenants. 1,058 responses (226 said they were impacted by harmful gambling, 249 said they gambled personally, and 111 were identified though the questions as those who could be classed as problem gamblers) (2/3 respondents were female).
• Screening question: “Has your gambling or the gambling of someone close to you had a negative impact on your life?”
• Survey findings - 1 in 5 of tenant respondents affected by harmful gambling; 8 in 10 problem gamblers have borrowed money in the past 2 years to pay for their expenses, compared to 5 in 10 among the other gamblers; Over 50% of problem gamblers who tried to control or stop gambling did not receive any support. For those who received support, none received support from BCC; The main reasons that prevent problem gamblers or affected others from seeking support are ‘embarrassment’ and ‘shame’; Over 60% of problem gamblers mentioned physical or mental health issues caused by their gambling behaviours, compared to less than 6% among the other gamblers.
• Qualitative interview findings highlighted issues like the concentration of bookmakers in deprived neighbourhoods, the ease of gambling online and the exposure to TV and social media gambling advertising as well as heightened cultural stigma for women of different nationality backgrounds.
• Harmful Gambling leading to tenancy precarity - 4 in 10 problem gamblers currently in rent arrears, compared to 2 in 10 of the other gamblers (harmful gambling cited as main reason for rent arrears); 30% of problem gamblers say gambling  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12