We have been aware of very strong rumour that Vicki Foxcroft has now replaced Baroness Twycross as the Minister for Gambling (not the official title).
We say “rumour” as despite it being widely reported by gambling industry insiders, including the Betting and Gaming Council (and who wouldn’t believe them??), it has not so far been confirmed by sources in Westminster, or on Ms Foxcroft’s own social media pages.
If it is confirmed as being true then we would be very excited to explore what this potentially means for the sector. Ms Foxcroft is an entirely different type of politician to Fiona Twycross and while she has not made any prominent contributions to the gambling harms debate during her time as an MP she has shown a passionate interest in how society can better protect young people and better serve those who face disadvantage, such as those who are disabled. She has also expressed a leaning towards taking a systemic Public Health approach to complex social issues, which in our opinion gambling harms certainly aligns with.
As such her appointment (if confirmed) does offer hope that she will bring an objective but empathically informed viewpoint to what can often be seen as partisan squabbles between industry and reformers.
Should this news turn out to be true then we would like to extend our thanks to Baroness Twycross for what has undoubtedly been a very challenging time to hold this portfolio.
That having been said, we do feel that the outgoing minister has tended to stick too closely to the center ground in terms of trying to appease both gambling operators and gambling harms advocates and reformers. As tends to be the case in such situations the outgoing minister has probably managed to achieve considerable success in avoiding been seen as favouring one side over the other, while simultaneously failing to please either.
While this may be seen by seasoned political observers as simply the sign of a “job well done” we take a slightly different viewpoint as acting to maintain the status quo is only really laudable when that status quo does not already represent an imbalance in power and influence which requires necessary reforms to be made, such as in order for safeguarding to sit effectively alongside “personal” and “business” rights.
The implementation of the Gambling Levy is one area which is exercising a lot of GLEN’s time and resources and it would be very nice to think that any incoming Minister would be open to engaging in strategic planning around this, rather than the reactive style of management which has so far been prevalent.
Baroness Twycross made a lot of “promises” around how the pre-Levy system of support – epitomised by the National Gambling Support Network – would be protected and supported during the transition process to avoid disruption and harm to existing services and those accessing them. We are not yet convinced that those promises have been honoured.
We trust that the appointment of Andy Burnham to the role of Prime Minister will mean that he brings with him closer understanding of how policies and industry practices impact the lives of real people within local communities. Our further hope is that this same ethos and understanding is duly extended to cover those he appoints to serve under him.
We look forward to meeting with the new minister and to continuing to progress the issues which we feel are of greatest importance in ensuring the system which is formed to protect, treat, and support individuals and families facing harms caused through gambling are supported to achieve this vital goal efficiently and empathically.
Vicky Foxcroft has proven herself very able and willing to bring her own direct lived experience of having suffered adversity and harm to her public role. As an organisation representing the vital importance of involving Lived Experience in delivering on policy and strategy in order to improve delivery and impact we feel that these shared qualities can be leveraged to form mutual understanding.
On a very selfish note, we do hope this news is confirmed quickly as we have a letter already drafted to the minister bringing the collected wisdom and feedback of 17 amazing organisations experienced in acting to provide treatment and prevention support to those suffering gambling related harms as to how implementation of the Gambling Levy is currently progressing, and offering important supporting suggestions to help it better meet its ultimate goals.
All we need now is to know exactly who we are sending it to.