Minutes for SIG meeting (Scotland) - 15 April 2021

Time: 14:00 – 16:00

Location: Microsoft Teams

Chair: Phil Mackie, ScotPHN

Attendees:

• Mike Callaghan (MC) (COSLA)
• Ann Conacher (AC) (ScotPHN)
• Anna van der Gaag (AvdG) (ABSG)
• Mark McAllister (MMcA) (COSLA)
• Elaine Mitchell (EM) (Scottish Government)
• Chief Inspector Alastair Muir (AM) (Item 5 only) (Scottish Violence Reduction Unit)
• Sara Redmond (SR) (ALLIANCE)
• Helen Rhodes (HR) (Gambling Commission)
• T/Inspector Geoffrey Smith (GS) (Police Scotland)
• Morag Williamson (MW) (Item 4 only) (Scottish Government)

Gambling Commission staff names other than for Leadership Team members have been redacted.

1. Opening remarks

The Chair opened the meeting. Introductions were made and apologies were noted.

2. Minutes from the last meeting

The Group went through the minutes from the previous meeting, and these were agreed.

Action: Gambling Commission to publish minutes on their website.

3. Updates on progress and developments since the last meeting

The Group went through the actions from the last meeting, all administrative actions were signed off. The drafting for the Declarations of Interest was finalised and members are to complete the form for recording purposes. The Terms of Reference document was also finalised with an agreement to review at a future point.

Actions: GC to circulate agreed Declaration of Interests forms to members for completion and return. Group to review agreed Terms of Reference at appropriate future point. ScotPHN to circulate Action Points from this meeting to members.

It was noted that the call for evidence period for the UK Government’s Gambling Act Review (GAR) had now closed but that stakeholders would still be able to feed into the later stages of the review. It was also suggested that if key stakeholders had specific points to make, it was likely that DCMS would be interested to hear these at any time.

Actions: Members to share submissions made by their organisations to the Gambling Act Review for sharing amongst the group – GC are happy to facilitate this. Following the meeting, the Department confirmed that they would welcome written submissions from group’s members to ensure key views were considered as part of the next steps of the Review.

4. Update and discussion on suicide prevention

Morag Williamson (MW) was invited to join the SSIG meeting to provide an update from Scottish Government on its suicide prevention action plan, introduced in 2018. The strategic aim was that everyone should have access to help, reduce stigma, and support those bereaved by suicide.

At a national level, the SG has developed learning resources, with training available online, and has conducted research into why some people are more at risk of suicide or suicidal thoughts using the IMV model of suicidal behaviour (opens in a new tab). At a local level, they have created a tool kit which supports local suicide prevention staff to plan and deliver relevant, focused, and impactful suicide prevention activities.

The action plan uses data to inform local response and the national strategy, drawing on information from Police Scotland and PHS, as well as using the expertise of an academic advisory group and a lived experience panel to help inform action, focusing on the outcomes and evidence of what has and has not worked, as well as looking at international policies.

Next steps are developing the new suicide prevention strategy with a commitment from Scottish Government and COSLA to develop a long-term strategy, cross working with other policy areas such as mental health and wellbeing, homelessness, and debt. SG will engage with various Groups in the development of the Strategy to show their approach, including the SSIG.

Actions: MW to share links to research and research model mentioned in her presentation. The slides for the presentation to be circulated to members. GC to share research summaries it had produced with MW. The Group to consider issues raised by MW in her presentation and feedback possible opportunities for linking Scottish Government activity to addressing gambling harms and National Strategy.

5. Lived Experience engagement – what it looks like

Chief Inspector Alastair Muir (AM) was invited to join the SSIG meeting to provide an update from Police Scotland’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU). The Unit was formed because of the levels of ‘normalised’ violence in the early 2000’s, seeing 137 murders a year with 41 in Glasgow. It was realised that policing could not solve the problem itself, and that resulted in the public health approach to tackling violence.

The VRU treat violence as a disease with causes behind it, such as housing, debt, addiction, and mental health issues. By gathering data, looking at risks and preventable factors, the VRU are trialling small scale pilots, and then scaling these up at a national level. They have found that mentoring or support on a long-term basis throughout a person’s life is the most effective.

Since implementing this public health approach they have seen a decrease in violent crimes within the Glasgow area. During this work, the team have highlighted the cost of violence in Scotland. It was acknowledged this is something that has not been accurately done for gambling harms.

Action: Chair to share contact details for AM with members of SSIG. The ALLIANCE requested help from AM in making contact with an organisation mentioned in his presentation to support LE work. The slides for the presentation to be circulated to members.

6. Review of Actions Map

The Chair asked the Group to focus on the next steps of the Actions Map to workshop through key actions that individual organisations need to do to fill the gaps and to identify what is needed to improve activity.

Action: Members to review updated NS Actions Map and consider where gaps and opportunities existed. This to be discussed at workshop for group members timed for late May/early June.

7. Agree next steps and plans for future meetings

The key actions identified were:

• Gambling Commission to publish minutes on their website
• GC to circulate agreed Declaration of Interests forms to members for completion and return
• group to review agreed Terms of Reference at appropriate future point
• ScotPHN to circulate Action Points from this meeting to members
• members to share submissions made by their organisations to the Gambling Act Review for sharing amongst the group – GC are happy to facilitate this
• following the meeting, the Department confirmed that they would welcome written submissions from group’s members to ensure key views were considered as part of the next steps of the Review
• MW to share links to research and research model mentioned in her presentation. The slides for the presentation to be circulated to members
• GC to share research summaries it had produced with MW
• members to consider issues raised by MW in her presentation and feedback possible opportunities for linking Scottish Government activity to addressing gambling harms and National Strategy
• Chair to share contact details for AM with members of SSIG. The ALLIANCE requested help from AM in making contact with an organisation mentioned in his presentation to support LE work. The slides for the presentation to be circulated to members
• members to review updated NS Actions Map and consider where gaps and opportunities existed. This to be discussed at workshop for group members timed for late May/early June (now arranged for 1 June 2021).

No themes were agreed for discussion at the next meeting but outstanding issues from previous discussions were:

• review of the Actions Map and a discussion of gaps and priorities.