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Board minutes for 10 September 2020

Meeting details

Venue:

Remote meeting

Time:

10.00 – 13.30

Attendees:

  • Louise Baxter (LB)
  • Shane Carmichael (SC)
  • Cath Cooney (CC)
  • David Forrest (DF)
  • Anna van der Gaag (AVDG) (Chair)
  • Ian Gilmore (IG)
  • Hermine Graham (HG)
  • Rachel Lampard (RL)
  • Jane West (JW)

In attendance:

  • Paul Hope (PH)
  • Helen Child (HC)

Staff names other than the Leadership Team have been redacted.

Minutes and actions

Apologies and declarations of interest

AVDG welcomed Board Members to the meeting and asked for notifications of any conflicts of interest.

Minutes and matters arising from July 2020

AVDG advised that the July minutes would be updated to reflect additional comments made at the last meeting.

Introductions, Chairs’ Update and Horizon Scanning

AVDG updated the group on a recent structure change within the Commission which brought the Advisory Groups into the Governance function, and welcomed HC, the Gambling Commission’s Board Secretary to the meeting.

AVDG noted that the November meeting would be held remotely and we will monitor developments to decide when it will be safe to start meeting again face-to-face.

Professor Samantha Thomas – Deakin University, Australia

Professor Samantha Thomas joined the group to talk about her work and to share a presentation on responding to gambling related harm in the online environment. She outlined her approach to gambling harm research within a public health framework and shared examples and learning from the Australian experience. The discussion also covered comparative regulatory approaches and engaging experts by experience in the research process.

The group discussed gambling advertising and marketing approaches, and research on mapping how children interpret and apply those messages.

Gambling Review/Online Gambling Controls

The group received an update from PH on the work undertaken so far to prepare for the Government’s Gambling Review, and on areas of work where the Commission would like to seek advice from ABSG. The group discussed the range of options that could be taken to reduce harm and the challenges of identifying those that should be considered the greatest priority. The group agreed that further work should be undertaken to start formulating targeted advice to inform the Gambling Commission’s next steps.

Action

Advice requests to be reviewed with PH and consideration given to ABSG subgroups to focus on particular issues.

Key points to raise with the Gambling Commission Board

AVDG advised that she would be attending the Gambling Commission Board Meeting on 17 September and asked the group to give a steer on points to raise with the Board.

Action

AVDG to share feedback on the meeting with the group at the next ABSG meeting.

Input to review of data collection and research methodologies

The group received an update on a review of participation and prevalence research which the Commission is carrying out. The group were advised of the current arrangements for random probability sampling and asked to comment on proposals for a revised approach.

The group were keen to ensure that a robust survey approach was retained and recognised the value of considering data gathered by other agencies alongside a range of Commission led metrics.

Any other Business

The group noted an update that the patterns of play research would be presented to group when initial findings become available.

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