Lib-Dems seek action to tackle gambling addiction

Councillor Howard Sykes, Group Leader and Leader of the Opposition on Oldham Council

The Oldham Liberal Democrat Group is sponsoring a motion at tonight’s (Thursday) rearranged full meeting of Oldham Council, seeking local action and more money from central Government to tackle the problem of underage gambling.

The proposer of the motion is Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Group Leader and Leader of the Opposition on Oldham Council.

He said: “Problem gambling is a blight on the lives of the individuals affected, and those of their loved ones. 

"For most, gambling is an occasional ‘flutter’ on the outcome of a sports match or at the races, or a small weekly outlay on the National Lottery; it is a recreational activity pursued for fun but in the hope of a big win. 

"But for a minority, gambling has become a real problem, an addiction that becomes obsessive and costly with victims losing hundreds or thousands of pounds every week. 

"It drains household finances, impacts on physical and mental health, and results in criminal activity, substance misuse, and family and marriage breakups; like loan sharks, problem gambling is a curse on the poorest and most vulnerable in our society.”

Councillor Sykes and his Liberal Democrat colleague, Councillor Chris Gloster, who is seconding the motion, are particularly concerned at the rise in online gambling as this is carried out away from licensed premises and so participants have no supervision when they play. 

Increasingly this is leading to more vulnerable gamblers getting into more serious debt and in more young people taking up gambling, and as internet access is improving, particularly on smart phones, this is likely to become an even bigger problem in future years.

Councillor Sykes added: “In our motion, we are calling upon the Gambling Commission, which is responsible for regulating the industry, to implement further measures to reduce problem gambling, discourage young people from becoming addicted to gambling, and to support gamblers with an addiction. 

"We also want the Council and its partners to work with the charity Gamble Aware to ensure that we are following the ‘best practice’ in this Borough, and to take the charity’s Gambling Toolkit into our schools and colleges to help inform our young people about the dangers. 

"Lastly we are calling on Government to provide Councils and local health authorities with more money to help us support individuals with a gambling addiction as these services are currently woefully inadequately funded.”

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