UK penal reform organization to launch Commission on Crime and Problem Gambling

The Howard League for Penal Reform, a UK registered charity and the oldest penal reform organization in the world, announced Thursday the launch of the Commission on Crime and Problem Gambling, aimed at investigating the links between crime and problem gambling.

The commission will run for three years with the former Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith QC, as Chair. It issued a call for evidence and held its first business meeting in London on Thursday.

Lord Goldsmith QC will lead a team of 15 commissioners, bringing together academics and professionals with expertise in the criminal justice system and public health as well as experts with knowledge of the gambling industry and lived experience of addiction.

The commission will look at the driving forces influencing change and practice, including legislation, politics and the media. It will engage with industry and political leaders throughout its work.

Lord Goldsmith QC, Chair of the Commission on Crime and Problem Gambling, 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."

Tim Miller, Executive Director at the Gambling Commission, said: "This independent Commission on Crime and Problem Gambling will fill a significant gap in understanding the relationship between gambling harms and crime. We support the Howard League’s evidence-based and comprehensive approach and anticipate that the recommendations from the Commission will help us make better and faster progress in delivering the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms."

Today we are launching a major commission to investigate the links between crime and problem gambling.

The Commission on Crime and Problem Gambling will run for three years, with Lord Goldsmith QC as Chair.https://t.co/3XWu9y0lib pic.twitter.com/fjow5WWzOc

— The Howard League (@TheHowardLeague) 20 de junio de 2019

Commissioners

• Lord Goldsmith QC, PC (Chair)
• Dr Jamie Bennett, Governor of Long Lartin prison
• Andrew Black, Co-founder of Betfair
• Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones OBE, FRCPsych, BA (Hons), DOccMed, MD (Imperial), Founder and Director of the National Problem Gambling Clinic
• Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Matt Burton, Cheshire Police
• Dr John Chisholm CBE, Chair, Medical Ethics Committee, British Medical Association
• Jon Collins, Chief Executive, Magistrates Association
• Frances Crook OBE, Chief Executive, Howard League for Penal Reform
• Elizabeth Morony, Partner, Clifford Chance LLP
• Andrew Neilson, Director of Campaigns, Howard League for Penal Reform
• Neil Platt, Clinical Director, Beacon Counselling Trust
• Sarah Ramanauskas, Senior Partner, Audit and Research, Gambling Integrity
• Professor Gerda Reith, Professor of Social Science, University of Glasgow
• Councillor Norma Stephenson OBE, Councillor, Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council
• Sue Wade OBE, former chief probation officer