The gambling white paper's fundamental problems mean people will continue to suffer - Matt Gaskell

The white paper does not set a public health policy framework, and the framing of gambling harm (e.g. suffered by a minority of vulnerable individuals) by government continues to set the wrong tone for effective policy. There is no action on gambling advertising, and children as well as those harmed will continue to be exposed. Advertising is a common threat to our service users’ recovery, and the gateway into an unsafe industry. A market to be tolerated in its current state, not stimulated. Many European countries have imposed significant curbs on advertising, and this represents a major failure of the white paper to reduce harm.

The gambling industry will continue to profile and use marketing to access customers engaged in gambling harm – to prompt, nudge, incentivise, send offers and even money into accounts. Our service users enter gambling mostly through sports (for men) and bingo (for women) and then they are cross-sold the addictive online casino content. This has not been stopped and this is another missed opportunity to prevent significant harm. Online casino content should be completely separate from lower risk sports gambling, and there is nothing in the white paper about this. Most alarming, the culture of VIP programmes for the biggest loss-making customers looks set to continue.

Our national sports will continue to be hijacked by gambling advertising and sponsorship. The recently announced voluntary ban on front of shirts advertising in football sends a confusing message, as advertising will continue on shirt sleeves, the perimeter of stadiums, on TV, radio and online. How can it be harmful on a shirt front, but not elsewhere? Children will continue to be exposed, and sport will continue to be a major gateway into harmful forms of gambling.

Cross-operator independent and real-time affordability checks hold so much promise to prevent gambling harm. The principle of affordability checks has been won by reformers and for the first time mandatory thresholds will be set. However, the threshold guidance within the white paper means that they would only kick in if £1,000 is lost within 24 hours, or £2,000 over 90 days. This would not impact the vast majority of those experiencing harm and addiction, and the culture of allowing unaffordable losses looks set to continue.

There will also be a significant increase in the number of gambling machines in smaller casinos and the relaxing of rules to allow higher stake machines in casinos generally. Gambling machines are the most addictive product on the market. Wasn’t this supposed to be an evidence-based review? The review seems to have ignored the harm of land-based gambling. These measures are not subject to consultation.

The government seems to struggle to understand that gambling harm and addiction is not the product of a minority of so-called flawed, weak, vulnerable people. The industry is creating addiction and its business model appears to be reliant on those harmed and addicted.

We are mass advertising and marketing an addictive product which could ensnare anyone at a given time. The source of the harm is the industry, its products and thirst for profit over the wellbeing of its customers, as well as our undercooked laws and regulations.

Reports suggest that 60 to 90 per cent of industry profits are coming from the five per cent most harmed. The government calculates that the white paper will reduce industry profits by three to eight per cent. This is instructive in terms of how far reforms will go. The white paper focuses too much on trying to catch those who are becoming or have become addicted (a failed enterprise using current methods), and does too little to prevent harm in the first place. These proposals lean too much towards being a responsible gambling white paper, rather than the public health policy framework that is required. The industry will be relieved this didn’t go much further.

- Matt Gaskell is a consultant psychologist and the clinical lead at the NHS Northern Gambling Service, hosted by Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.