Debate contribution: Gambling-related Harms: Public Health Approach

Debate contribution by Mr Paul Frew on 28 January 2025.

MLA

Mr Paul Frew

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

28 January 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Gambling-related Harms: Public Health Approach

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4764158

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I am taking part in the debate as a member of the APG on reducing harm related to gambling. First, I commend and pay tribute to my North Antrim MLA colleague Philip McGuigan for his candour today and in the past. I have no doubt that Philip McGuigan's actions in that regard have saved lives and helped people who have a gambling disorder and their families. The House should commend Philip McGuigan for that, because it is not easy. We are public figures, but we also want to claim some privacy, so what Philip has done is to be commended. I believe that he has done it to save lives and to protect families and the loved ones of people who are afflicted with this disorder. The motion speaks of:

"the urgent need to protect children and those already experiencing gambling harms from gambling-related marketing, which is currently both targeted and pervasive, particularly during sports broadcasts and on social media".

I will focus my comments on that marketing. I am a Spurs fan —

— and there is probably not a surer bet in the world at this time than a bet on Spurs to lose. That is not a tip; it is a cry of desperation

You cannot fail, however, to acknowledge and see the massive amount of advertising and pressure that you get before a match, when the blood is up; during half-time, when the blood is up; and after the event, when the blood is down and you are in despair. Maybe at that point you are trying to reclaim some of your money. The advertising and pressure are targeted, and they are dangerous. Evidence that the APG received shows that gambling marketing has become ubiquitous over the past number of years. The gambling industry in the UK spends in excess of £1·5 billion a year on advertising. It knows that it is on to a winner. Six in 10 consumers report seeing gambling advertising at least once a week. We should be extremely concerned about the pervasiveness of gambling marketing, especially considering the impact that it is having on children and young people.

I thank the Member for his contribution, and I will add to it by including even film stars and people who we would have watched on TV when growing up. It is pervasive and dangerous. Of course, there is money involved. It is a very powerful lobby, so that entices those people to go on TV to advertise their wares. A recent joint report by Ulster University and Maynooth University found that young people on the island of Ireland are constantly exposed to gambling marketing through sports consumption on their mobile phones, on television and in their towns and villages. That is changing young people's attitudes towards gambling, with researchers finding that young people believe that there is a natural relationship between sport and gambling. Meanwhile, it found that young people are largely unaware of the range of gambling harms beyond financial losses. That is bad enough. It also found that certain sports programmes are absolutely saturated with gambling marketing. Separate research from the University of Bristol last year identified almost 30,000 gambling messages over the opening weekend of the Premier League season. That was a threefold increase on the previous year, so you can see how such marketing is being escalated. During the APG's inquiry, we heard that there is a growing body of evidence that shows a strong correlation between advertising and marketing on the one hand and the gambling behaviour of those who are most vulnerable to gambling addiction on the other. According to Gambling Commission research, gambling marketing prompts unplanned spend in around one third of sports betters and emerging adults. Also, most of those with gambling problems said that marketing prompted unplanned spend. The draft initial gambling code of practice, which the Department for Communities recently consulted on, prohibits gambling marketing that is particularly appealing to children. Therefore, we urge the Executive to amend existing legislation to ban gambling advertising at local sporting events that are likely to be attended by children, such as Northern Ireland Football League matches. Some 80% of all gambling marketing activity is now on the internet. That is a massive challenge. Companies are spending five times more online than on television. They know where their marketplace is. In Northern Ireland, print advertising is regulated under the 1985 Order, but online marketing is a regulatory grey area. While online gambling operators licensed by the Gambling Commission can freely advertise in Northern Ireland, because online and broadcast advertising is a reserved matter, our population is afforded no protection by the regulator in GB, as other Members mentioned. The draft initial gambling code of practice recommends that gambling operators comply with relevant codes administered by the Advertising Standards Authority. The ASA relies on the Gambling Commission to take enforcement action against gambling operators who persistently breach their codes in GB. However, if an online gambling operator uses social media channels to target people in Northern Ireland and, in doing so, breaches the codes on multiple occasions, the Gambling Commission is unable to take enforcement action due to its lack of jurisdiction here. In short, it is powerless when it comes to code breaches that occur in Northern Ireland. Legislation that was passed last year in the Republic of Ireland introduced significant restrictions on gambling marketing. The restrictions included the introduction of a watershed for gambling advertising on television and radio between 5.30 am and 9.00 pm and a ban on advertising gambling content on social media unless the recipient is following a gambling company's social media account. If a jurisdiction nearby is legislating well or better than we are, we should take notice. The legislation also prohibits advertising that is likely to portray gambling as attractive to children and includes a ban on the sale of branded clothing or merchandise intended to be worn by children or at events that may be attended by them. That is an important step, given the extremely high levels of gambling marketing to which children are exposed through televised sports programmes. The Minister mentioned that he, the Communities Minister and the Education Minister wrote to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. She has the power, under existing laws, to introduce similar marketing restrictions and should do as a matter of urgency. I ask the Health Minister and his Executive colleagues to write again to the Westminster Government, calling on them to take positive steps to restrict the promotion of gambling and to act on their general election manifesto commitment to reduce gambling-related harm.

Yes, I will.

The Member raises a valid point. I, who served on the previous Committee for Communities, was deeply frustrated at the legislation that came before us. We all recognised that we could have and probably should have done so much more. The work should not cease because we are in a shortened mandate. Work can continue. Even if we do not see the blue pages of a Bill in this mandate, it should be oven-ready to go ahead immediately in the next mandate. We should look at this as a public health matter. I stress that to the Health Minister. The Member opposite said that it could be a decade before legislation is passed, but there is an opportunity even this year. The Minister did a consultation on what he called a public health Bill. I do not see much about it that relates to public health. He talked about lockdowns, but they increase problem gambling. The Minister has an opportunity to use the public health Bill to bring in measures —

— to reduce the harm of gambling.

1,291 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:55 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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