Gambling
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department plans to take to improve training across all levels of the justice system on gambling-related harm.
Answered by Sir Nicholas Dakin
The Ministry of Justice takes a person-centric approach to workplace wellbeing. Our support offer to individuals is delivered though the employee assistance programme, occupational health, staff networks and related policies. There have been a range of events and operational guidance made available to staff on gambling-related harms. In previous Mental Health Awareness Weeks, specific events on ‘gambling addiction and mental health’ were available to all staff.
Within His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), National Debt Awareness week was observed in 2024, with several live events concerning gambling-related harms. Further materials such as the "Reach Out Save Lives" initiative, and bite-sized learning modules like the ‘HMPPS Problem Gambling: Prevalence and Practice’ course, are available to all staff. There is also the ‘Addiction to Gambling long-read’ which collates peer-reviewed literature on the matter and serves as operational guidance on working with those in prison and probation who experience gambling-related harms.
As an organisation, we take an evidence-based approach to ensure the Ministry of Justice is able to provide targeted support to respond to environmental factors. At this time, we are not planning any specific events training for the workforce related to gambling-related harm.
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