Howard League launches investigation into links between crime and gambling

Betfair co-founder Andrew Black is among 16 members of a new commission launched by the Howard League for Penal Reform to investigate the links between crime and problem gambling.

The Commission on Crime and Problem Gambling, which issued a call for evidence and held its first business meeting on Thursday, will run for three years chaired by the former attorney general Lord Goldsmith QC.

It is the latest investigation to be announced into gambling with deputy leader Tom Watson heading a review for the Labour Party, the House of Lords scheduled to convene a select committee inquiry into Britain’s gambling laws and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Gambling-Related Harm looking into online gambing.

The penal reform charity's team of commissioners brings together academics and professionals with expertise in the criminal justice system and public health.

They will investigate patterns of crime linked to problem gambling and the societal harms that connect the two, before seeking to make recommendations for government, the gambling industry and within the criminal justice system.

It will look at the driving forces influencing change and practice, including legislation, politics and Lord Goldsmith said: "Concern about harmful gambling activity has been growing for some time, but this is the first commission to focus specifically on the relationship between problem gambling and crime.

"Our commission will seek to establish what the links are, what impact they have on communities and wider society and, crucially, what steps could be taken to reduce crime and make people safer."

Gambling Commission executive director Tim Miller said the investigation would "fill a significant gap in understanding the relationship between gambling harm and crime".

He added: "We support the Howard League’s evidence-based and comprehensive approach and anticipate the recommendations from the commission will help us make better and faster progress in delivering the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms."

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