UKGC publishes update on pilot of survey questions to understand gambling-related harm

In July 2018, we commented on a report that contained what it described as “a ground-breaking approach to understanding the full range of harms gambling can have on society“. The report:

  • called for views on how the social cost of gambling-related harms can be measured and better understood and
  • sets out methodology that could be used to quantify the impact gambling can have on relationships, finances and health.

On 14 December 2021, the Gambling Commission published on its website an update on this subject entitled “Pilot of survey questions to understand gambling-related harm” in which it made clear that “the pilot is not aiming to form the basis of the development of a headline score or scale of gambling-related harms, nor is it designed to measure to the cost of gambling-harms to society”. However, if the test of a refined question set is deemed successful, the Commission says that: “the harms questions will be asked alongside core questions on participation and problem gambling and will become official statistics”.

The update (downloadable below) commences with the following summary:

Update: Pilot of survey questions to understand gambling-related harm – Summary

Our corporate strategy sets out that gambling related harm is a public health issue requiring a coordinated response. It includes harm to an individual but also the wider impact it can have on family life, access to public services and costs to the community and economy. The Gambling Commission’s statutory role is to ensure licence holders are acting to protect children and other vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling. To do this, we need to understand the ways and extent that gambling consumers and others experience gambling harms.

In June 2020 the Gambling Commission started piloting a new set of survey questions designed to understand the incidence, nature and severity of harm experienced by gamblers and non-gamblers. The questions were iteratively tested on the Commission’s online tracker survey on a quarterly basis until September 2021.

The next stage will test a refined question set as part of our upcoming pilot of a new methodology for collecting participation and prevalence statistics. If successful, the harms questions will be asked alongside core questions on participation and problem gambling and will become official statistics.

It continues as follows: