Consideration of the draft APG Inquiry Report

Date: Tuesday 4 June 2024

Time: 9:30am

Location: Committee Room 29, the Parliament Buildings

Chairperson: Philip McGuigan MLA

Minutes taken by: Emer Haines, Chambré

Members Present

·        Danny Donnelly MLA

·        Maolíosa McHugh MLA

·        Philip McGuigan MLA

Apologies

·        David Honeyford MLA

·        Harry Harvey MLA

·        Paul Frew MLA

·        Robbie Butler MLA

·        Stephen Dunne MLA

Secretariat

·        Will Chambré – Chambré

·        Emer Haines – Chambré

·        Ben Collins – Chambré

Minutes

1.      Welcome

Philip McGuigan MLA welcomed members to the meeting.

2.      Minutes of last meeting

Members agreed that the minutes of the last meeting (19 March) were a true and accurate representation of that meeting. This was proposed by Maolíosa McHugh MLA and seconded by Danny Donnelly MLA.

4.      Matters arising

There were several matters arising from the APG’s last meeting. Some of which have still to be actioned by the secretariat. See below.

·        Chair to write to the HSC Trusts asking about provision of gambling treatment services.

·        Chair to write again to Education Minister requesting a meeting re: making it mandating schools to educate pupils on the danger of gambling as part of core curriculum.

·        Secretariat to respond to Communities Committee request for an update on current work of APG.

·        Secretariat to prepare draft Terms of Reference on shorty inquiry into Gambling Codes of Practice provided for in 2022 Act – codes in order of priority 1) protection of children and young people, 2) gaming machines, 3) reverse withdrawals, 4) marketing , 5) gambling securities and credit cards and 6) customer care and problem gambling.

·        Seek support for NI  getting a fair share of the Westminster Government’s proposed statutory levy on gambling operators for research, prevention and treatment.

·        Invite Westminster APPG Chair Carolyn Harris and  members of the Scottish Parliament and Welsh  Senedd to brief APG.

·        Raise issue of data collection at meetings with Executive Ministers.

5.      Consideration of draft APG inquiry report

Co-authors of the APG’s inquiry report into public health approaches to gambling-related harms in NI, Connor Hogan and Rohan Boyle from the Secretariat provided a comprehensive overview of the draft report and its findings.

The Chair noted that the secretariat was to make any necessary changes to the draft report arising from the discussion and circulate to members for a final review and sign off, ahead of the report’s launch in the Long Gallery on the 24th June.

Discussion/Actions:

-        The Chair suggested the production of a short executive summary of the report’s high level recommendations to make more accessible.

-        Maolíosa McHugh MLA highlighted the need to ensure the recommendations arising from the report get implemented. The Chair agreed there was a definite need to prioritise the recommendations, and deduce actions from them, to follow up after the report, whether it be a letter to a certain Minister, committee or assembly questions etc.

-        Members discussed the potential; for a cross-party private members’ motion.

-        The Chair asked that the Secretariat come up with prioritised series of follow up actions following on from the recommendations.

6.      AOB

Chair highlighted upcoming meeting with Advertising Standards Authority on 5 September to discuss regulation of gambling advertising with particular regard to protecting children and vulnerable people from age-restricted ads, such as gambling in the online environment.

7.      Next meeting

The Chair informed members present that the next meeting date would be after the summer recess.