To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much her Department has spent commissioning research into problem gambling in each of the last five years; and whether it is her policy that gambling harms are a public health issue.
Answered on
26 September 2022
We are committed to tackling gambling-related harms through a public health approach, recognising the potential impacts on individuals, their families, close associates and society. The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The following table shows the funding allocated for research into problem gambling through the NIHR’s research programmes in each of the last five years.
2017/18 | £0.00 |
2018/19 | £0.00 |
2019/20 | £97,535.81 |
2020/21 | £121,439.68 |
2021/22 | £695,254.73 |
In 2019, the former Public Health England conducted an evidence review of gambling-related harms. The cost of research commissioned through this review was £8,000.