Key points:
- The session is scheduled for 9:30am on 2 April
- The Health and Social Care Select Committee will examine everything presented during the hearing
- MPs will have the chance to question witnesses about what more needs to be done
The Health and Social Care Select Committee will hold a public meeting in the UK Parliament this week to examine the latest evidence related to gambling harms.
Members of Parliament (MPs) will have the opportunity to question witnesses about what role public health teams should have to reduce potential for gambling-related harms, and whether they think the current ecosystem efficiently safeguards children and vulnerable people from gambling-related harms.
This is part of an initiative from the UK Government to reduce stigma and support people coming forward to seek help for gambling-related harm.
Several professional witnesses will be part of this process, with the 9:30am hearing including Sam Chamberlain, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Southampton and Director of the Southern Gambling Treatment Clinic; Heather Wardle, Co-Chair Lancet Public Health Commission on Gambling and Professor of Gambling Research and Policy at the University of Glasgow; and Lucy Hubber, Director of Public Health in Nottingham and part of the Association of Directors of Public Health.
Good to know: From April 2025, the Gambling Commission will be responsible for collecting and administering the new statutory levy, which is to be put towards preventative studies and care
The 10:30am hearing will call forward Henrietta Bowden-Jones OBE, National Clinical Advisor on Gambling Harms; Andrew Vereker, Deputy Director for Tobacco, Alcohol and Gambling, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities; and Tim Miller, Executive Director of Research and Policy, Gambling Commission.
The private hearing will begin at 9:15am in The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House.
The public hearing will continue from 9:30am onwards and will be accessible online through the Parliament live TV service.
