Lord Foster of Bath (LD)

My Lords, I declare my interests as chairman of Peers for Gambling Reform and chairman of Action on Gambling. Amendments 95 and 99 are based on concerns that I have previously expressed during earlier stages of our consideration of the Bill. At present, gambling disorder, unlike drugs and alcohol addiction, is not adequately addressed within the criminal justice system. Gambling disorder simply does not have parity of esteem with drug and alcohol addiction, and I believe that it should. The internationally agreed classification of mental disorders believes that it should and puts drugs, alcohol and gambling in a special subgroup of substance-related and addictive disorders. The Association of Police and Crime Commissioners believes that there should be parity. Our own NICE guidelines say the same and state that screening about gambling should occur at each point of contact with the criminal justice system. However, at present, there is no parity of esteem and, as a result, we are failing to tackle one of the key issues that lead people to offend and reoffend. We know from independent research that, for example, a far higher percentage—over 25%—of the prison population suffer gambling harm than in the general population, and gambling is rife within our prisons. Yet current assessment of offenders rarely identifies gambling disorder because it is not adequately referenced in current and planned future assessment procedures. Support and treatment for gambling disorder are rarely available either in prisons or to those under the supervision of the Probation Service. As a result, many individuals enter court or prison or start a non-custodial sentence without any assessment of whether gambling disorder contributed to their offence. Courts rarely then have access to gambling-specific reports, leaving judges without evidence to make an informed sentencing decision. There is no statutory gambling treatment requirement, leaving courts without structured, clinically guided alternatives to custodial sentences. Within prisons, or for those under the supervision of the Probation Service, treatment and peer-support options are largely absent. On release, continuity of care is, frankly, inconsistent, leaving individuals vulnerable to relapse and reoffending. Amendments 95 and 99 seek to overcome these problems in terms of assessment and support for gambling disorders among offenders. They seek to give parity of esteem for drug and alcohol addiction and gambling disorders. I beg to move Amendment 95.