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GamCare under threat from Gambling Strategy Board proposals 2

Finance | Tania Mason | 1 Dec 2009

GamCare, the advice and counselling charity for problem gamblers, is worried that it will be sidelined and have its funding slashed under new proposals from the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board.

GamCare already runs an independent and impartial national helpline, which has been operating for 12 years and and has been rated as “excellent” or “very good” by 94 per cent of its users. During GamCare’s most recent financial year, the helpline cost  £800,000 to run.

But the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board (RGSB), chaired by Baroness Julia Neuberger, has now unveiled proposals to commission a national telephone helpline with web support at a cost of £1m a year. It has also mooted spending £50,000 redeveloping the Gamble Aware website, despite the fact that none of GamCare’s 332,000 web visitors in 2009 came to its site via Gamble Aware.

The RGSB’s recommendations will now be considered by the Gambling Commission.

GamCare’s chief executive Andy McLellan said it made no sense to create new services when established ones already existed.

Decisions 'premature' 

He said GamCare welcomed the RGSB’s review of best practice in prevention and treatments, and added that GamCare would “co-operate fully to find out what works and improve our services”.  But he described as “premature” the conclusions drawn before the review has taken place.

He said it was far from clear what benefits there would be for problem gamblers or their families in creating a new helpline with a new number, particularly when the GamCare helpline number is already splashed across 250,000 gambling machines, advice leaflets and websites, and gambling premises.

“We are also concerned that the RGSB thinks the helpline should be separated from treatment provision, when in fact our helpline is the first line of treatment,” McLellan said.

Chairman Anthony Jennens added that the quickest and most efficient way to reach more problem gamblers and their families would be to “build on the work we’re already doing in partnership with other charities and the NHS”.

Funding shortfall 

GamCare is funded by money raised from the gambling industry by the GREaT (Gambling Responsibility, Education and Treatment) Foundation. But this year’s allocation was smaller than usual, and late, while the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board conducted its examination of existing services and devised its recommendations to the Gambling Commission.

The shortfall in funding meant that GamCare had to shelve plans to train partner agencies to offer face-to-face counselling in Wales and the West Country and been unable to do any new marketing to raise awareness of its services among its target audience.

While GamCare doesn’t have a monopoly on the gambling treatment market, it is easily the most extensive provider of services, offering treatment in many different ways – over the phone, online, and face-to-face.  Spokeswoman Eileen Kinghan said the complexity of the new regime suggested that the RGSB had “some objection” to GamCare continuing to receive the bulk of industry funding, but it had not told GamCare that it was unhappy with the services being provided, or complained that the charity wasn’t effective enough at delivering it.

"We are constantly working to improve our outcome measures," Kinghan added.

The RGSB told Civil Society that it was fully committed to consulting on the development of a national telephone helpline with GamCare and others before making a final recommendation next summer. "The RGSB has already said that GamCare should be well placed to make a bid to run the service," a spokeswoman added.

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