It was commissioned by GambleAware and completed by KantarPublic. The report found gambling support services in England and Wales were delivered in 12 regions between October 2018 and March 2021.

It also discussed the “facilitators and barriers which contributed to the success and outcomes of the service.”

One facilitator was Citizens Advice; GambleAware learnt that its expertise in providing client support made it successful in uncovering and supporting people that were at risk of experiencing gambling harm.

On the other hand, a barrier was the consistency in screening practices across the local Citizens Advice officers; evaluators found there was a lack of flexibility in screening questions, stigma and a limited number of front-line workers.

However, the active engagement of CEOs and Senior Managers contributed to a “top-down promotion of screening practices”. This could positively affect the programme's sustainability and long-term impact.

GambleAware says that to overcome problems around screening, there should be more flexibility in screening questions to encourage more natural conversations.

Front-line workers should also consistently address the issue of uncomfortable conversations about gambling harms.

GambleAware Monitoring Director, Helen Owen, said: "This thorough evaluation has evidenced Citizens Advice's important role in providing advice for people at risk of or experiencing gambling harm and signposting them to help.

"Alongside this it has helped identify the main barriers to success for the gambling support service. With this understanding we now have a clear view on what opportunities there are to improve the service. The learnings from this evaluation have contributed to the commissioning of the new process and model, at a National Citizens Advice level."

Citizens Advice Head of Business Development, Daniel Marshall, added: "Problem gambling can have life-changing effects, not only for those gambling, but for their family, friends and colleagues as well. It's so important that anyone who is struggling knows they can get help and that they don't need to deal with this alone.

"We are very pleased to be working with GambleAware on such an important project."