Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Thank you all for being here today and for your engagement in this important discussion.

I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all of our speakers and panellists – including Baroness Twycross, Sir Frank Atherton, Stuart Andrew, Tim Miller, and Claire Murdoch – as well as the many dedicated individuals who work at GambleAware – as well as our Trustees and the Lived Experience Council – and of course to you as attendees throughout today.

A special thank you also goes to the King’s Fund for hosting us today and providing a space for this vital conversation and Liz Barclay for excellent moderating of the event.

It's been 4 years since the government announced a review of the gambling act, 19 months since the White Paper, and during this time, we have met with 7 Ministers responsible for gambling, but finally we have the government response and can start to actively plan for the move to statutory footing.

As we heard from the Minister at the start of the day, close collaboration with the third sector is crucial, and the priority has to be a smooth transition.

All of us in this room and online have a responsibility to deliver on a once-in-a-generation opportunity, and build on the foundational work delivered to date, to create long-term change and deliver our vision of a society safe from gambling harm.

With this I have one ask of you all to embrace the theme of today’s conference and work with us to build a bridge to embrace new ways of working, foster new relationships, and with it continue to put the needs of the service users and those at risk at the forefront of our work and ambition for the new system.

GambleAware is fully committed to working with the government, NHSE and other public health bodies to affect a safe transition to the new commissioning system which we hope will build on the expertise already in the system and the effective work of the National Gambling Support Network and our other programmes.

Early next year, we will be publishing our Strategic Plan - a plan geared to provide clarity and certainty for our beneficiaries - for our key partners and stakeholders, and for our staff as we move onto transitional footing and harness the transformative potential for this sector.

This is a plan that captures the role that GambleAware must have in continuing to deliver our charitable objectives through the broad ranging portfolio of work that it delivers and has at its heart both stabilisation of the system and acceleration of progress against key population groups.

It also strongly recognises the opportunity & responsibility that we and other key partners have in shaping the future statutory system in a way that harnesses the expertise, knowledge and learning that exists and, in doing so, sets the future system up for long term success.

I’d like to echo the number of important comments made today about prevention. It is critical that the role of a prevention commissioner is clarified, to ensure the protection of existing services and to guarantee alignment and integration between prevention and treatment as the new system evolves.

We know that prevention and early intervention are critical to help people before the impact of gambling harms take place in the first place. Earlier access to support can also reduce the need for more complex and costly treatment, protecting NHS resources and, in turn, deliver a net fiscal benefit.

With this, clarity is required regarding the definition of ‘prevention’ and its relationship to ‘treatment’. We will support the government in its decisions around managing the prevention agenda and with it, protect key prevention assets including the GambleAware website which is accessed by over 5m people each year seeking advice and support. We will also push for other ways to protect the public which is why we have called for further restrictions on gambling marketing.

We welcome the comments from Minister Baroness Twycross today, that an announcement on prevention will be made in the coming weeks. We also listened with interest the Minister’s call to the industry to provide further action on advertising – and with it to strengthen self-regulation although I speak for many others when I say that such an initiative is unlikely to make marked headway given the increasingly prevalence of gambling advertising, bombarding families on a daily basis.

Separately we have heard repeated calls for a longer-term strategic framework which is one key reason why we call for a national strategy for the reduction of gambling harms and aligned outcomes to be the guiding framework for all the new commissioning bodies.

Today’s sessions have underscored the wide-ranging impact of gambling harm, and the need for continued efforts to protect people, particularly children, young people, and individuals from communities that are more likely to experience health inequalities. This work is more urgent than ever.

But, there is much reason for optimism. This is a moment of great potential for our sector. It’s a time of innovation and ambition for change.

We are at the start of new journey toward a new system, and while the path ahead will undoubtedly have challenges, the voice of the system has never been stronger. With the support of the Government, and our partners across England, Scotland, and Wales, I am confident that together we can achieve our vision: a society free from gambling harm.

Finally I would like to thank the incredible team at GambleAware – who work tirelessly in the face of such change, recognising what is best for the system and on many an occasion, rallying around to support each other in the face of often unhelpful narratives. I will never forget their commitment and dedication over the last few challenging years.

Thank you once again for your time, commitment, and dedication to this cause. Let’s continue working together to make this vision a reality.

I hope you’ll all join us for drinks– we have the space until 17:00, so let’s continue the important conversations started today and take a chance to reflect and plan for the next chapter!