SBC News

GamCare has confirmed the appointment of Tim Hodgetts as Director of Clinical Operations of the UK’s leading charity providing treatment support services for problem gambling.

Hodgetts brings 22 years of experience to the role, having served in multiple leadership roles within the NHS, in which he specialised in the design, management, and efficiency of healthcare networks.

Most recently, Hodgetts served as Deputy Director for Integrated Care Services with Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust – in which he was responsible for the performance management of the unit, meeting NHS objectives.

GamCare highlighted Hodgetts’ management as “Under his leadership, Tim transformed the urgent care services, including the local NHS 111 telephony and online service to become the best-performing in the country.”

Margot Daly, Chair at GamCare, adds: “I am delighted to welcome Tim, whose significant expertise, knowledge, and insights will be invaluable to the clinical leadership of the..

GambleAware has appointed Professor Sian Griffiths (CBE) as the new Chair of Trustees for its gambling harms prevention programmes in the UK.

Griffiths takes over from Baroness Kate Lampard (CBE), who is leading a government inquiry into the death of mental health inpatients in Essex.

Griffiths has been Deputy Chair of Trustees at GambleAware and Chair of the charity’s Performance and Delivery Committee since 2018.

As one of the UK’s leading physicians, Griffiths was President of the UK Faculty of Public Health (2001-2005). With a distinguished career in public health policy and network management, Griffiths has served as a Director of Public Health England and Chair of the Public Health England Global Health Committee.

“I am delighted to accept this appointment and continue ensuring gambling harms are seen as a serious public health issue,” Griffiths said.

“Due to the stigma surrounding gambling harm, it can be hard for people to seek help. We need a public health approach that r..

The Assembly of Northern Ireland is unlikely to review any changes to gambling laws, despite bipartisan calls demanding an immediate intervention.

Following Thursday’s General Election, Northern Ireland sees a new Assembly take form in which Sinn Féin will serve as Stormont’s largest party in Westminster.

The election sees a more diversified representation of Northern Ireland at Westminster, despite Sinn Féin taking no seats at the House of Commons. A new assembly is made up of six parties (and one independent) representing the 18 constituencies of the devolved nation.

In 2019, Stormont began its consultation to overhaul gambling laws of the ‘1985 Order on Betting, Gaming, Lotteries and Amusements’ – which carried no provisions for online gambling.

Despite the recognition that NI gambling laws were outdated, Stormont saw no progress on the launch of a new gambling regime or amending existing laws to improve protections.

Yesterday, the Department for Communities (DfC) responded to ..

Italy sees progress on the ‘reorganisation of gambling’, as ADM, the Customs and Monopolies Agency, enters the final legislative procedures to launch a new framework for online gambling concessions.

On Friday, ADM filed the documentation of its new framework for online gambling concessions with the Treasury, which, alongside the Council of State, will provide a ‘binding opinion’ on ADM’s proposals.

Following its final determination, the framework will be merged as a regulatory measure of the ‘Reorganisation of Gambling’ decree to overhaul Italy’s online and land-based gambling laws.

Prior to its adoption, technical rules of the framework will be submitted by the Ministry of Made in Italy (formerly the Ministry of Enterprise) to the European Commission for its competitive evaluation. The final procedure is expected to require a three-month ‘stand still period’ before adoption in Italy.

Sanctioned by the Ministry of the Economy and Finance (MEF), Italy’s new licensing framework will ..

Dutch market analyst LADIS has released a new report warning that the number of problem gamblers in the Netherlands is on the rise.

The study summarises the different levels of problematic consumer behaviour, covering the rate of abuse of various substances, as well as excessive gambling, over the period between 2018 and 2023.

Categorising the harm levels based on cause and percentage across the population, LADIS found that gambling holds fifth place in terms of problem behaviour, gripping 3.8% of Dutch citizens.

First is alcohol with 44.9%, followed by cannabis (15.3%), cocaine (12.3%), and opiate abuse (11.8%).

Still, in 2023 problem gambling had by far the biggest growth rate YoY compared to all other categories, jumping by 24.2% when matched against the numbers from 2022.

“This increase is also visible among the institutions that supplied data throughout the period,” LADIS commented.

The second specified category of abuse was medicine with 11.9%, while the percentage und..

Gambless has begun the gradual phase-out of its mental health and wellbeing app, which helps those suffering from problem gambling harms and addiction.

Launched in 2020, the Gambless app is recognised as a pioneering tool offering mental health support to tackle gambling addiction and the symptoms of gambling harms.

Of significance, the Gambless app has supported over 20,000 individuals in their struggle with gambling addiction, in which Gambless served as the first phase of intervention for users seeking long-term help.

The phase-out will see the Gambless app remain available to download in app stores, but it will no longer receive updates or new developments.

CEO Maurizio Savino explained that the closure of the app was primarily due to significant costs in operating and maintaining Gambless’s mobile services.

Savino stated: “As a self-funded project, it has become impractical to continue without external support from industry partners or regulatory bodies. When we started Gambl..

Lisa Nandy, MP for Wigan, has been appointed as Secretary of Culture, Media and Sport under the first senior cabinet of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

The appointment of a new State Secretary for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) was required following the loss of shadow secretary Thangam Debbonaire’s Bristol West constituency to the Green Party.

Nandy succeeds former Conservative MP Lucy Frazer as DCMS state secretary, who was among the 250 Tory ministers to lose their constituencies.

MP for Wigan since 2010, Nandy is recognized as one of the Labour Party’s longest-serving ministers, who served under the premiership of PM Gordon Brown as an undersecretary of the Cabinet Office.

During Labour’s 14 years in opposition, Nandy took on several shadow minister roles, including Foreign Affairs, Energy Policy and Climate Change, and most recently Levelling-up minister shadowing Michael Gove.

In 2016, Nandy rebelled against Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party,..

The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has voiced its support for the new Labour government following results of the General Election.

The body has stated that it is committed to working with the new cabinet to deliver a ‘world class’ betting and gaming industry, following Labour’s landslide victory.

Prior to yesterday’s vote, Labour pledged to ‘drive up’ standards on responsible gambling, with its manifesto envisioning working closely with the industry to secure the UK’s number one spot as the leading betting and gaming market.

The changes are largely being driven by the Gambling Act White Paper, which was published in 2023 – also highlighting the need to tackle problem gambling and gambling-related harm, which Bacta has more than once stated will put the industry on the right footing to drive economic growth.

Currently, the regulated betting and gaming market generates £4.2bn in tax and puts in £7.1bn into the national treasury, supporting some 110,000 jobs in today’s economy.

P..