Problem Gambling

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:00 pm on 22 May 2018.

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Photo of Mick Antoniw Mick Antoniw Labour 2:00, 22 May 2018

Thank you for that, First Minister. Like everyone here across the parties, we welcomed the announcement by the UK Government the other week of the intention to reduce the maximum bet for fixed-odds betting terminals to £2—something that we've discussed in this Chamber on a cross-party basis for almost five years. Of course, we'll need to see legislation, we need a timetable to make sure that this thing actually happens, and I wonder if you've given some thought to the issue as to whether this has implications in respect of the Wales Act 2017 with regard to our devolved responsibility, whether an LCM will be required, and whether there is an opportunity through an Order in Council for the devolution of gambling properly. Because, in terms of dealing with the health implications, we know of the significant issue with regard to young gamblers, 11 to 15-year-olds, we have powers already in respect of education and planning, and what we really need is to develop a strategy to deal with the growing problem, recognised by the Chief Medical Officer for Wales, of problem gambling, online gambling, using the powers that we've got at the moment, but also the opportunity to get proper devolution of full gambling responsibilities so that we can actually have all the tools to tackle this emerging epidemic.