SBC News

Spelpaus, Swedish gambling’s centralised self-exclusion system has hit the milestone of registering 100,000 users at risk of gambling harms.

Operated by Spelinspektionen, Sweden’s Gambling Inspectorate, Spelpaus was launched on 1 January 2019 as the primary player protection service of Sweden’s relaunched online gambling marketplace.

By law, Swedish online gambling operators are required to connect their databases with the Spelpaus register, to ensure that self-excluded customers have no access to websites and cannot be marketed to.

In 2022, Spelinspektionen was granted funds to launch the revamped Spelpaus 2.0 self-exclusion system, as part of the government’s review of Swedish gambling’s consumer protections and safeguards.

Launched at the close of 2022, Spelpaus 2.0, featured enhanced self-exclusion functionalities, improved ID verification services and a new website design with clear guidance on self-exclusion and family referrals.

Furthermore, 2023 saw the Inspectorate lau..

Today marks the conclusion of the annual boot camp titled “10:0 for people against addiction” in Bulgaria, created to support those affected by addictive behaviours, including people suffering from gambling harm.

Organised by community support groups ‘Rematch’ and ‘Help Against Addiction’, the three-day initiative saw its 10th consecutive edition held at the football complex Boyana in the capital city of Sofia, with the support of the Bulgarian Football Union.

It is a sports-therapeutic programme that offers people struggling with addiction, including gambling, a variety of physical activities, social skills seminars, the chance to participate in a football tournament, as well as a discussion titled “People before everything else”.

This year’s event was attended by more than 60 people from the Bulgarian cities of Varna, Gabrovo, Sofia, as well as members of the community currently living in Thessaloniki, Greece.

The opening ceremony took place this Wednesday, with special guest..

The London Assembly has launched an inquiry seeking to ‘understand the health impacts of gambling in the capital city’.

The inquiry will be led by the London Assembly’s Public Health Committee with the aim of informing the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, about developing policies and initiatives to reduce gambling-related harms.

The Committee has issued a ‘call for response’, seeking insights from lived experiences on the availability of support services for those experiencing gambling-related harm within London boroughs.

Open until 29 November, the consultation for the inquiry is looking for insights on key concerns. These range from changes in gambling participation in London and the prevalence of gambling-related harms to the effectiveness of support services and the role of the Mayor in reducing these harms.

The London Assembly would like to invite those who have experience or knowledge of the health impacts of gambling in London to provide written evidence to the Committee.

The ..

Ygam and GamCare have launched an English nationwide intervention and harm prevention portal alongside several regional organisations as part of a GambleAware-commissioned project.

The English Gambling Education Hub (EGEH) portal is a collaborative effort between the duo and five other organisations – Aquarius, ARA, Beacon Counselling Trust and Breakeven.

Its remit goes beyond England’s borders, however, as EGEH will also work in collaboration with the Scottish and Welsh Gambling Education Hubs. As a GambleAware-backed endeavour, this falls in line with that body’s newly adopted regional approach.

Anna Hargrave, Chief Commissioning and Strategy Officer at GambleAware, said: “Gambling harm is a serious public health issue which can affect anyone – including children and young people. Early intervention and prevention programmes, such as these education hubs are vital to keeping people safe from gambling harm.

“Young people are increasingly exposed to gambling through the wider envi..

Kindred Group has detailed a ‘consistent trend’ regarding the proportion of its revenue from harmful gambling, although the figure has crept up slightly between the second and third quarters of the year.

The Swedish gambling group – active in multiple markets via its Unibet sportsbook and 32Red igaming brands – set itself a target in early 2021 of achieving 0% revenue from harmful gambling by 2023.

Since it began working towards this ‘Net Zero’ goal two years ago, the company has issued quarterly updates on its gambling revenue. The latest report detailed a small uptick in income from harmful gambling, up from 3.1% in Q2 2023 to 3.3% in Q3.

This still marks a decline against Q4 2022, however, when the figure stood at 3.5%, and a sharp fall from a high of 3.8% back in the third quarter of last year. The group has also detailed progress on the impact of interventions on player behaviour.

According to Kindred’s latest data, its interventions with customers experiencing gambling harm h..

Lottstift, the Gambling Authority of Norway, has confirmed that Blå Kors (Blue Cross) will take control of Hjelpelinjen, the country’s Gambling Helpline.

The decision follows Lottstift ending its partnership with the Norwegian health trust, Sykehuset Innlandet, which will cease operating the Gambling Helpline on 31 December 2023.

The appointment meets a growing concern by Lottstift on the increased demand of Hjelpelinjen, which in 2022 registered 825 inquiries, up 15% on 2020 figures.

Blå Kors was deemed as the optimal agency to operate the Gambling Helpline, which in 2024 will feature the support of 54 addiction care centres operating across Norway.

Expanding Hjelpelinjen’s support, Blå Kors operates a network of 1,700 skilled employees, 1,500 dedicated volunteers, and 2,400 active partners on addiction matters.

The appointment was announced by Lars Petter Degnepoll, Senior Health Advisor of Lottstift, who cited: “Blue Cross has worked with gambling problems for a long time and ..

GambleAware has identified further regional discrepancies regarding gambling harm across Great Britain, highlighting how Scotland has the least engagement with support services.

The charity has released a series of interactive maps in recent weeks designed to break down the experience of gambling harm across Great Britain’s countries of England, Scotland and Wales, which make up three of the four nations of the UK.

According to the maps, Scottish people facing gambling harm are less likely to access support and treatment services than the Great Britain average, engaging with such services at a rate of 17% as opposed to an island-wide rate of 21%.

Additionally, the proportion of this group in Scotland – the second most populous country in Great Britain – was also lower than the general British average of 19.4% at 15.5%.

Gambling participation in Scotland as a whole, meanwhile, remains fairly consistent with Great Britain-wide levels, with 60.5% of people in the country, or 2.7 mill..

GamCare has published its annual report and financial statements, signed by the board of trustees of the problem gambling treatment support charity.

The 2022/2023 period represents GamCare’s 25th year delivering frontline treatment support services such as its 24/7 National Gambling Helpline, family counselling and youth programmes.

Expanding its services, GamCare has taken on the role of system coordinator appointed by GambleAware of the UK’s National Gambling Support Network (NGSN).

The role sees GamCare provide NGSN organisations and stakeholders with clinical facilities, gambling harm data insights and operational support to ensure the NGSN provides immediate intervention for those suffering harms.

As system coordinator of the NGSN, GamCare recognises that UK gambling stands at a point of inflection, as the government proceeds to overhaul industry laws and standards under the remit of the Gambling Act Review.

Margot Daly – GamCare
“GamCare has shared our deep sector expertise..

Brigid Simmonds (OBE), Chair of the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), has urged the government to guarantee the funding of third sector organisations in its consultation of a mandatory levy on problem gambling harms.

Announced yesterday by DCMS, an eight-week consultation has been launched to gather stakeholder insights on the structure, management and oversight of a fixed levy collecting funds for problem gambling research, education and treatment (RET) disciplines.

Proposals drafted by DCMS, will see the NHS supported by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) serve as primary commissioner of the funding RET projects and organisations across the UK.

Headline objectives see the government target raising £100m per year from direct levy contributions set at gross gambling yield for online operators whilst betting shop and casino operators will pay less 0.4% GGY.

This afternoon, Simmonds responded to the government’s plans: “the reality is, the industry is already donating millions, supp..

The New South Wales (NSW) government has planned a series of responsible gambling events and initiatives to mark the state’s Safer Gambling Week, which concludes on 22 October.

Backed by a AUD$100m investment, Safer Gambling Week will see 45 events held across NSW including showcases, roundtables, information sessions, workshops and community drop-in events, whilst information stalls will also be set up at shopping centres.

Significantly, the government will utilise funds gained from a series of fines against Star Casino – penalised by the NSW Independent Casino Commission (NICC) – to fund a range of long-term safer gambling programmes.

Authorities plan to invest $6.4m in self-exclusion and to introduce third party exclusions in pubs and clubs and $10m across the remainder of the year to the Responsible Gambling Fund for the provision of GambleAware counselling and support programmes.

NSW Minister for Gaming and Racing, David Harris, said: “We know there are people out there exper..