5. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the health challenges presented by gambling addiction in Islwyn? OQ59228

Public Health Wales was commissioned to produce a gambling health needs assessment for Wales, which was published last month. The report highlighted the extent of potential health challenges posed by gambling addiction across Wales, including Islwyn. These include stress, anxiety, substance misuse and, in the most tragic cases, suicide.

Diolch. ITV Wales's political programme Sharp End last week highlighted the issue of problem gambling in Wales, and the charity GambleAware estimate that the number of Britons who have a gambling problem is a staggering 1.4 million people. The availability and accessibility of gambling has never been greater. Today, there is no longer need to visit the bookmaker's shop in town centres, and every single person with a smartphone has accessibility and ease to gamble at the push of a button. The advertising of gambling is now all-persuasive, and its reach is even seen on gaming platforms, which is worrying for future generations. Public Health Wales have stated that they believe early education on problem gambling is urgently needed. There is clearly a tangible link between gaming and gambling. Public Health Wales have called for a system-wide approach that knocks down the barrier of shame and stigma, early education in schools, empowering GPs and other front-line services to identify and refer on to specialist services. So, Deputy Minister, what does the Welsh Government intend to do to assess our current ability in Wales to diagnose people with problem gambling, refer them to appropriate pathways for help, and what representations can the Welsh Government make to the UK Government on a much-speculated White Paper on the future of gambling in the United Kingdom?

Can I thank Rhianon Passmore for that supplementary question and for raising this very important issue in the Chamber? The Welsh Government is committed to supporting people affected by gambling-related harm, and continues to take an integrated and collaborative approach to gambling policy. We're committed to a public health approach to addressing the harms caused by gambling to protect people, in particular children and young people, and vulnerable people. My officials will continue to work with education officials and Public Health Wales to understand how to most effectively communicate the harm from gambling products to young people through a denormalisation approach.

Following discussions with stakeholders, we commissioned Public Health Wales to undertake a gambling needs assessment to inform our work. That assessment, published on 1 February, reviewed the needs of people experiencing harms from gambling to inform a public health approach to reducing gambling harm in Wales. It's absolutely crucial we make it as easy as possible to signpost those who need support at the earliest opportunity, and one of our recommendations from our gambling task and finish group was to look at the referral pathway and the potential for a specialist gambling treatment service for Wales. It's vital that pathways are clear and understood by professionals and by individuals who self-identify as needing support. We'll be looking at that this year, as well as working with the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee, to understand what place a specialist treatment service could have here in Wales.

And, coming to your last point, Rhianon, as you know, some of the most influential levers to reduce gambling harms are held by the UK Government. We've been waiting for a very considerable time for a proposed White Paper that would address some of the key issues, such as advertising restrictions and a levy on the industry. We've been promised that this is forthcoming on several occasions, and we're very disappointed that progress has not been made to date. We will continue to lobby the UK Government on this point.