§ Mr. Simon ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much public funding has been spent by the Government on(a) publicising the dangers of gambling among under 18-year-olds and (b) rehabilitation for gambling addicts in each year since 1997. [161340]
§ Mr. CabornThere is no public funding for(a) It is not possible to provide a specific estimate of the amount spent on (b) within total NHS provision for mental health services, bearing in mind the frequent co-morbidity of pathological gambling with other forms or manifestations of mental disorder.
§ Mr. Simon ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what research her Department has(a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into the likely effects on repeat play by children of reducing the legal maximum stake for redemption-style gaming machines from 30 pence to 10 pence per game; [161303]
(2) what research has been carried out on behalf of her Department on the extent to which (a) redemption style machines offering exchangeable goods and (b) other category D machines affect the likelihood of repetitive play among children. [161341]
§ Mr. CabornThe report of the Gambling Review Body (CM 5206) identifies a number of research studies dealing with gaming machine play by children. These include machines which would be classified as Category D machines under the draft Gambling Bill proposals.
191WBut the Department is not aware of any studies which relate specifically to redemption style machines, and has not commissioned any.