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Report

ABSG Progress Report on the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms – Year Two

ABSG - Year two Progress Report on the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms

1 - Introduction

The National Strategy called for a ‘whole system’ public health approach to reducing gambling harms through its two strategic priorities of prevention and education, treatment and support. ABSG is responsible for reporting annually on the progress of the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms. This is the Board’s Report on the second year of the Strategy. It provides an important opportunity to:

  • recognise successes and build on strengths
  • identify weaknesses and areas where progress has been slow, and consider ways to improve progress
  • make recommendations to maximise the impact of the Strategy over the next year.

The Report should be read alongside the Gambling Commission’s Implementation Update and Action Map on the National Strategy micro-site1.

The purpose of this Report is to provide a high-level narrative of strengths, weaknesses and opportunities in the National Strategy, rather than to comment on 200 projects on the micro-site.

Overview of the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms – aims, objectives and cross-cutting themes

  1. The sole aim of the three-year National Strategy is to move faster and go further to reduce gambling harms
  2. Objectives:
    • Prevention and Education Towards a collective and clear prevention plan applying the right mix of interventions
    • Treatment and Support Significant progress towards national treatment and support options that meet the needs of current and future service users
  3. Delivery:
    Delivery arrangements require structures to co-ordinate action from different partners, metrics to measure impact and adequate funding. ABSG report on progress annually.
  4. Cross-cutting themes:
    • Regulation and oversight
    • Collaboration
    • Research to inform action
    • Evaluation

When it was launched two years ago, the National Strategy created an opportunity to bring together expertise from a wide range of organisations across Great Britain with a role to play in reducing gambling harms. This report is relevant to an equally wide audience, including:

  • the Gambling Commission
  • other regulators
  • local and national Government
  • the gambling industry
  • other related industries – such as financial services, as well as the NHS,
  • local authorities
  • police and community justice bodies
  • treatment providers and third sector organisations with a focus on addressing gambling harms.

All of these have responsibility for addressing gambling harms.

To develop the Report, evidence has been gathered from partners in the National Strategy. The Gambling Commission’s Implementation Update and Action Map was also used as a source of information on activities delivered as part of the National Strategy. We welcome the improvements the Commission has made this year to the usability of this resource. It provides a more accessible register of the wide range of activity in support of the National Strategy.

References

1 National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms – Micro-site, Implementation update and Action Map

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