Islington Counsil has joined the Campaign to End Gambling Ads (CEBA).
CEGA says the gambling industry spends around £2bn a year on advertising, thus embedding gambling into everyday culture, including children and young people.
Operating in Islington, Haringey, Lewisham, Hackney and many other parts of the UK, CEGA was founded by Matt Zarb-Cousin of Clean Up Gambling in 2021 under the name the Coalition Against Gambling Ads.
The Councils say they are pushing for fairer funding for treatment, and more power to refuse new gambling venues when they put people at risk of addiction, especially near schools or vulnerable people.
The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) works with operators to drive higher ethical and moral standards.
At the recent BGC AGM, Baroness Fiona Twycross delivered a keynote speech.
“This Government is not anti-gambling; we want to work together,” Twycross said.
Gambling duty changes will be implemented soon, and the Government understands that tax levies will affect business.
The Baroness highlighted the £26m dedicated to the Gambling Commission to help tackle the unregulated market in the coming years.
EDITOR'S COMMENT: The cycles of debate, by Tim Poole
Gambling advertising has long been the subject of endless political and regulatory debate in the UK – and indeed across Europe. How can any business or product be expected to survive without the basic function of marketing?
However, the social cost that can come with gambling (the kind of cost some consumer goods simply do not carry...) blurs lines.
Naturally, the assumption is that limiting exposure helps reduce gambling harm. But does a reduction in advertising truly stop problem gambling? Evidence here has never been particularly conclusive.
Obviously, gambling advertising should not become an everyday norm for those too young to gamble. And Evoke's disastrous advertising campaign for its 888 brand in 2024 (when London buses and Tubes were billed as your new casino) did not last long. It was correctly admonished.
But the rhetoric of those who intend to ban gambling altogether, and end up simply fostering an ecosystem that encourages illegal gambling, usually falls some way short of real change.
So where do we find the balance?
80+ councils in England have taken action against gambling
