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Gambling Commission appoints Dr Anna van der Gaag as Chair of the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board

19 November 2018

Dr Anna van der Gaag CBE has been appointed as the new Chair for the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board (RGSB).

RGSB are the Gambling Commission’s expert advisors on the research, education and treatment required to reduce gambling-related harms.

Anna will join RGSB as a member with immediate effect and will take on the role of Chair to succeed Sir Christopher Kelly, whose term as RGSB chair comes to an end in March 2019. Anna is a Visiting Professor of Ethics and Regulation at the University of Surrey and she’s held regulatory roles in the health, social care and legal sectors. Anna also has a particular interest in how regulators can be proactive in the prevention of harm.

Bill Moyes, Gambling Commission Chair said: “It is with pleasure that we announce Dr Anna van der Gaag as the new Chair of RGSB. She brings with her a wealth of experience in health, social care and the prevention of harm that will be an asset in advising on how to implement the next National Strategy, which will launch in April 2019 and on which we will shortly be consulting.”

Dr Anna van der Gaag, speaking about her appointment said: “Gambling-related harms are increasingly recognised as a public health issue requiring robust collective action. I am thrilled by this opportunity to join a team with such a passionate commitment to understanding and reducing harms and raising awareness of the personal and societal costs that can arise from gambling activities."

Sir Christopher Kelly said: “I am delighted to welcome Dr Anna van der Gaag as my successor. Anna’s strong background in research and regulation provides a solid foundation to provide authoritative advice on the next strategy and to achieve our aim - to reduce the impact of gambling-related harms, especially among the most vulnerable.”

Formerly Chair of the Health and Care Professions Council, she is a non-executive director at Health Education England and the Kent Surrey and Sussex Academic Health Science Network and a founding member of the Q Community, a quality improvement network led by the Health Foundation. She was awarded the CBE for services to health and care in 2015.

Note to editors

  1. The Responsible Gambling Strategy Board was set up in late 2008 to advise the Gambling Commission on research, education and treatment programmes needed to support a national responsible gambling strategy and associated funding requirements.
  2. The Gambling Commission regulates gambling in the public interest alongside licensing authorities. It does so by keeping crime out of gambling, by ensuring that gambling is conducted fairly and openly, and by protecting children and vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling. The Commission also provides independent advice to government on gambling in Britain.
  3. The Commission will also be appointing three new Board members later this year to provide expertise in the fields of public health, safeguarding vulnerable people and research.

Journalists can contact our press office on 0121 230 6700 or email: communications@gamblingcommission.gov.uk

For all media enquiries, please contact the Gambling Commission press office.

Last updated: 11 February 2021

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