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Minutes for SIG meeting (Scotland) - 25 October 2021

Time: 10:00 - 12:00

Location: Microsoft Teams

Chair: Phil Mackie, ScotPHN

Attendees:

  • Ann Conacher (AC) (ScotPHN)
  • Cath Cooney (CC) (ABSG)
  • Lily May Green (LMG) (Scottish Government)
  • Michelle Gillies (MG) (ScotPHN)
  • Michael Gillan (Scottish Government)
  • Fiona Stewart (FS) (SOLAR)
  • Sara Redmond (SR) (ALLIANCE)

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

1. Opening remarks

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

2. Minutes from the last meeting

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

Action: Gambling Commission to publish the meeting minutes on their website.

3. Updates on the progress and developments since the last meeting

3.1 The Group went through the actions from the last meeting, all administrative actions were signed off.

3.2 An update on the development of the new Suicide Prevention Strategy was requested. Scottish Government (SG) colleagues noted that it was going through a consultation period and PHS will share a link to this once it is available.

Action: SG to check on publication status of new Suicide Prevention Strategy and action plan for Scotland. Links to this to be shared when available and SIG to develop response by communication within the Group.

3.3 The Group were provided with an update on the Gambling Act Review. A White Paper was expected by the end of the year. SG noted that they intended to develop a cross policy approach to gambling harms in Scotland in response to the Gambling Act review process and policy development more generally.

Action: SIG to have a watching brief in relation to the publication of the Gambling Act Review White Paper, consider matters relating to Scotland and progress these in line with Group’s action plan. Action:ScotPHN to share links to White Paper when it is published.

3.4 GC noted that all members of the Group had been invited to complete a Declarations of Interest form. A final request asking for this information would be made to members of the Group and future meetings will have a standing agenda item for declarations of interest.

Action: GC to contact members of the SIG who had not completed a Declaration of Interests form and offer support in doing this. DOIs to then be published on SIG webpages.

3.5 PM reflected on the Action Plan that was developed following on from the SSIG workshop in June. The Group agreed with the three main roles of the SIG that were identified, as well as the ‘we wills’, with a focus on encouraging the development and inclusion of reducing gambling harms within Scottish Government and other agencies policies. The Group requested more time to look at the Action Plan and provide comments before it is made publicly available.

Actions: ScotPHN to circulate SIG action plan to Group members asking for comment to allow adoption of document one month after the meeting. GC to publish SIG action plan on Group webpages when this had been agreed by members.

3.6 The Chair provided feedback from Glasgow Gambling Summit and the Group provided a few observations. Members provided positive feedback about the event and engagement with wider partners. PM indicated he had deliberately not attempted to be prescriptive in setting out intended outputs from the summit event, instead believing this would be developed by partners once they had had an opportunity to consider the sessions at the event and how best they could respond to it. He suggested it might be necessary for individual members of the Group to lead on specific outputs from the summit event. Following on from the Summit, the Group agreed to facilitate; collaboration, building relationships, encouraging development and to identify who is going to take the work forward.

Action: GC was asked to facilitate production of an SIG public statement on the outcomes from the Gambling Summit.

4.1 Item to be discussed at the next meeting.

Action: Group members were asked to review the content of the PHE Evidence Review document with a view to discussing it and learnings for Scotland at the next SIG meeting. ScotPHN offered to share links to OHID webinars where the report would be discussed in order to facilitate the discussion.

5. Output from Glasgow Gambling Harm project for iteration

5.1 MG introduced the Glasgow Gambling Harm project which is intended to be a tool to map a whole systems approach to reducing gambling harms. The interactive map allows you to see the connections between the whole system of what gambling harms looks like, where action is needed and is an accurate reflection of the local system. The aim of this project is to encourage wider discussions of gambling harms, identifying opportunities for intervention, and supporting people with lived experience.

5.2 Next steps are to iterate this with stakeholders to provide a better perspective. The project was keen to engage with people of lived experience, academics, local authorities, national government, and the SSIG. MG would welcome thoughts of the map from the Group, and how best to engage and who to engage with.

Action: Group to share thoughts once they have reviewed the map.

5.3 The Chair mentioned the Five Nations presentation in the context of this item and highlighted a point he had made at a recent governmental meeting about how it would be ineffective to try and tackle gambling harms by focusing only on a limited number of issues that were unrelated and isolated. For example, by focusing on regulatory change which was highlighted on the whole systems map that MG has produced. There was a need for a whole systems approach to best address the gambling harms. PM will share a link to the invite when available.

Action: PM to share links to Five Nations meeting when this was available.

6. Including the lived experience in strategy work

6.1 Item to be discussed at the next meeting.

Action: SR to share an update on ALLIANCE activity with Group members.

7. Agree next steps and plans for future meetings

Action: ScotPHN to circulate dates for future meetings.

7.1 The key actions identified were:

  • Gambling Commission to publish the meeting minutes on their website
  • SG to check on publication status of new Suicide Prevention Strategy and action plan for Scotland. Links to this to be shared when available and SIG to develop response by communication within the Group
  • SIG to have a watching brief in relation to the publication of the Gambling Act Review White Paper, consider matters relating to Scotland and progress these in line with Group’s action plan
  • ScotPHN to share links to White Paper when it is published
  • GC to contact members of the SIG who had not completed a Declaration of Interests form and offer support in doing this. DOIs to then be published on SIG webpages, including a statement indicating where no declarations had been made by Group members
  • ScotPHN to circulate SIG action plan to Group members asking for comment to allow adoption of document one month after the meeting
  • GC to publish SIG action plan on Group webpages when this had been agreed by members
  • GC was asked to facilitate production of an SIG public statement on the outcomes from the Gambling Summit
  • Group members were asked to review the content of the PHE Evidence Review document with a view to discussing it and learnings for Scotland at the next SIG meeting. ScotPHN offered to share links to OHID webinars where the report would be discussed in order to facilitate the discussion
  • Group to share thoughts once they have reviewed the map
  • PM to share links to Five Nations meeting when this was available
  • SR to share an update on ALLIANCE activity with Group members
  • ScotPHN to circulate dates for future meetings.

7.2 Themes agreed for discussion at the next meeting were:

  • including the lived experience in strategy work - lived experience legacy
  • Public Health England 'Gambling-related harms': evidence review.

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