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Awareness about the need to engage the gambling industry in reducing gambling related harm has become topical. In recent weeks the government has launched its consultation on f<\/a><\/span>ixed\u00a0odds\u00a0betting terminals (FBOTs) and the huge salary paid to the CEO of Bet 365<\/a> made business sector news. At the same time the public are expressing higher levels of anxiety about gambling related harm. The regulator, the Gambling Commission<\/a>, has launched its strategy for the next three years and the London devolution plan has included gambling as a priority<\/a>. The terrain is rapidly changing with the growth of the online sector and new gambling style products. Not only is there a general acceptance that regulation<\/a> needs to catch up with such changes if harm, particularly to children, is to be prevented, but that more evidence is needed on which to base policy decisions. <\/span><\/p>\nThese concerns were among those expressed by the House of Lords<\/a> when they recently debated the issues\u00a0<\/span>facing problem gamblers, specifically online gamblers<\/span>. All speakers agreed there is a growing problem with far reaching health and social ramifications. For example, the growing numbers <\/span>now citing gambling as a cause for marital break-up, in one in five uncontested petitions<\/a> compared to one out of every 15 such claims a few years previously. And the industry is booming.\u00a0<\/span>The Local Government Association figures cite the growth in the gross gambling yield from fixed-odds betting terminals as rising from \u00a31.05 billion in April 2008 to \u00a31.73 billion in March 2016\u2014an increase of 65%. But whilst all agreed that more needed to be done for problem gamblers and their families, there is also growing concern to make protecting children a priority.<\/span><\/p>\n The organisation Odds\/Off which runs a gambling awareness<\/a> and abuse prevention programme found that nine out of 10 problem gamblers started gambling between the ages of 11 and 16 and did not understand the severity and reality of this dependency until it was too late. In 2016, more young people were gambling than were smoking or drinking. Some 3% of 11 to 15-year-olds have spent their own money on online gambling, but 6% have gambled online using their parents\u2019 accounts, either with or without permission. There is little regulation about advertising controls, particularly in sports broadcasts and online, and some 63% of 11 to 15 year-olds<\/a> said they had seen gambling ads on social media and 57% have seen them on other websites whilst 9% of young people are following gambling companies on social media.<\/span><\/p>\n There was universal criticism from their lordships that the gambling industry, while making record profits, is failing to meet its commitment to provide 0.1% of its profits to support research, education, and treatment into gambling related harm. This levy is currently made on a voluntary basis, but many organisations fail to contribute and the funding base for GambleAware<\/a>, the charity charged by the Gambling Commission and Responsible Gambling Strategy Board to commission research, education, and treatment, is subsequently precarious. <\/span><\/p>\n