London Assembly Health Committee urges mayor to ban gambling ads on TfL

London Assembly Health Committee has called on Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to honour his 2021 election manifesto promise to impose a blanket ban on gambling advertising across the Transport for London (TfL) network.

This call comes as part of a wide range of recommendations to the mayor from the committee following a two-part investigation into gambling-related harm in London, with the findings and recommendations published in a committee report titled “Gambling Related Harms in London”.

The health committee referenced the Annual GB Treatment and Support Survey 2022, carried out by YouGov on behalf of GambleAware, which found that London’s rate of problem gambling was almost twice that of the GB average, standing at 5.6% compared to 2.9%, respectively.

This is despite the fact that London had a lower rate of gambling participation compared to the rest of Great Britain – 55.6% compared to 60.3%.

During the investigation, mayoral representatives highlighted the limitations of the causal link between gambling advertising and gambling-related harm, pointing to the lack of a definition of what “harmful gambling ads” actually are. 

Nevertheless, the committee ruled that it wasn’t possible to distinguish whether an ad was harmful or not and, therefore, the mayor should introduce a blanket ban on gambling-related advertising across the TfL network.

This decision was accompanied by a recommendation to replace the ads with a pilot gambling public health messaging campaign on the network, in collaboration with the NHS.

The report proposed an imminent implementation of this ban, within 2024-25, and for the mayor to initially consult with key stakeholders, including charities, health partners and representatives from the gambling industry to assist with the process.  The committee also said that the next iteration of the mayor’s London Health Inequalities Strategy (HIS) due after the next mayoral election, should give greater prominence to the issue of gambling-related harm in the capital. 

An additional recommendation was for the government to reconsider the “aim to permit” guidance for licensing authorities, which would give councils greater powers to refuse applications from new betting shops wanting to enter an area, especially in locations that already have a high number of retail bookmakers.

Alongside this, the report put forward the suggestion that the mayor should work with local councils to share best practices and information on how to avoid the proliferation of betting shops in London. This would further explore how local councils can use cumulative impact assessments for gambling premises applications. 

The committee further recommended the mayor use his role to ensure the NHS and the third sector are consulted on where the new statutory levy on gambling operators’ gross gambling yield, as laid out in the white paper into the Gambling Act 2005 review, is allocated and ensure it be used to deliver support and treatment for gambling-related harm. 

In addition to working with the NHS on public health messaging, the report stated the mayor should work with NHS England to advocate training for London-based GPs on gambling-related harm.

Dr Onkar Sahota, chair of the London Assembly Health Committee, said: “It is hard to escape the presence of gambling in London. From the betting shops spread along the capital’s high streets to our transport network, billboards, TV and online, there are invitations to gamble everywhere you look.

“It is deeply concerning to hear that London’s rate of ‘problem gambling’ is almost twice the average seen across Britain, and that Londoners are more likely to be negatively impacted by someone else’s gambling. This includes families and children.”

Dr Sahota then called on the mayor to honour his pledge for a blanket ban on gambling advertising.

He added: “The mayor’s 2021 manifesto committed to a ban on ‘harmful gambling advertisements’ across the TfL network. The committee was informed that this could not be implemented as there has been no definitive definition of harmful gambling, awaiting the government to define what harmful gambling is. However, the committee believes the mayor should bring forward proposals to introduce a ban.

“It is crucial that Londoners who are struggling to control their gambling can get appropriate support and treatment. 

“While I welcome the introduction of the new statutory levy to fund research, prevention and treatment, the new commissioning model for treatment must address the fragmentation of current service provision and build on the strengths of existing services delivered by both the NHS and the third sector,” the committee chair concluded.