SOAPBOX: Gambling – you can bet your life we have a problem (by John Kyle)

Dr John Kyle is a retired GP and the Progressive Unionist Party councillor for Titanic in Belfast.

“Our son Jack was bright, popular, just 24 when he began gambling [but] he thought he would never be free from it.” His mother, Liz Ritchie, told the heart-breaking story of how Jack came to end his life because of an addiction to gambling at the launch of Gambling With Lives, this week in the Long Gallery, Parliament Buildings.

Gambling addiction has been a hidden problem and only recently, with greater awareness due to the explosion of gambling advertising, have we come to realise that it is a huge problem.

It is estimated that we have 30,000–40,000 individuals living in Northern Ireland whose lives are being damaged by problem gambling. Unlike alcohol or drug addiction it has few visible signs yet it can have a devastating impact on the lives of individuals, their families, friends, community and work places. It leads to debt, family breakdown, domestic violence, criminal activity, depression, mental health problems and, tragically in some circumstances, to individuals taking their own lives.

It is estimated that in the UK, annually, there are between 250–650 suicides related to gambling addiction. As Pete Keogh, whose son Lewis took his own life, explained “Lewis didn’t take his life because of debts, he took it because of a terrible illness, gambling addiction”.

Certain people are particularly at risk of gambling addiction: the young, adolescents, unemployed, those in poor health, those living in the lowest socio-economic groups, the single, widowed or divorced, often the most vulnerable.

Although it is illegal for under 18s to gamble, research suggests that in the UK 1.7% of 11–16 year olds are problem gamblers. That’s 60,000 young people, many of whom are inveigled by unscrupulous firms into online gaming and gambling.

In Northern Ireland we have a particular problem. Our prevalence of problem gambling is the highest in the UK, twice that of Scotland, three times of Wales and four times as bad as in England.

Furthermore, one of the most troubling aspects of this issue is the shocking lack of support available in Northern Ireland to individuals who are addicted to gambling. A report published by the NIO last September revealed that the Health and Social Care Board neither provides funding for problem gambling now commissions services for problem gamblers. The Department of Health and Public Health Agency have provided no funding for public awareness campaigns and only one of the five NHS trusts even collects data on the number of individuals affected.

This is in contrast to the rest of the UK where there is a National Gambling Treatment Service with residential treatment centres, recovery housing to prevent relapse, a retreat and counselling programme, public health campaigns, awareness and educational campaigns, point-of-sale safer gambling messaging, regulatory restrictions, self-exclusion schemes, a range of preventative tools and training for staff in recognising and interacting with customers exhibiting signs of problem gambling.

Two specialist clinics exist in England and this number will increase to 14 over the next five years, covering England, Scotland and Wales, funded with £100m from the gambling industry. In Northern Ireland we have none.

The Northern Ireland Turf Guardians Association (NITGA) represents 80% of the local industry and gives £24,000 annually to the Dunlewey Centre for a counselling service. The Northern Ireland Amusement Caterers Trade Association also provide some funding to Dunlewey and help to fund a dedicated helpline through Gamcare. However, the sums involved are not large. £24,000 is a drop in the ocean of what is actually needed from the gambling industry which makes millions of pounds a year in profits. Last year the total gross gambling yield in the UK was £14.4 billion and CEOs’ salaries run into the millions of pounds. Bet 365’s CEO Denise Coates was paid £323m last year.

The good news is that a consultation is underway on the Regulation of Gambling by the Department for Communities. It closes on Friday 21 February at 5pm. Our current legislation is decades out of date and not fit for purpose. There is widespread support, not only to update the law but also to put strong safeguards in place for vulnerable individuals and to protect young people. An independent regulatory body is being considered (such as the Gambling Commission in Great Britain).

The lack of provision in respect of education, prevention and treatment is now glaringly obvious. The Department of Health and the Public Health Agency need to take this ignored problem seriously.

Gambling kills. The gambling industry, which up until now in Northern Ireland has avoided shouldering its responsibility, should step up to the mark and provide the necessary funding to address a problem that they have been largely responsible for creating. There is widespread support for a mandatory levy on the industry.

Occasionally politicians are presented with an open goal: an opportunity to do something which will prevent suffering, protect children, help families and most importantly save lives, with an obvious and available source of funding.

This is their opportunity; it is time to act.