Concerns over gambling in Guernsey

Thursday 24 October 2019

Gambling in Guernsey is on the up, with millions more spent on scratch cards in the island than in Jersey.

The recent Household Expenditure Survey raised some concerns, showing the average household in Guernsey spent £261 on lottery games each year, compared to £190 in Jersey.

Meanwhile, last year's scratch card revenue for Guernsey was £9.6million while Jersey's was £7.3m

After studying the figures, the local Public Health Service has arranged a conduct survey with the Liverpool John Moores University to better understand the island's attitude to gambling.

7000 households across the Bailiwick have been randomly sent a postcard inviting the person living at that address who has the next birthday, is aged 16 or over and is resident in Guernsey, Herm or Jethou to complete the survey.

Pictured: Director of Public Health, Dr Nicola Brink.

They will be asked some general questions, like their age and how much fruit they eat, before getting to the topic of gambling. Participation is voluntary and responses will be treated with confidence.

Once gathered, the information will be used to identify levels of need across the Bailiwick and inform policy and service provision.

"I would encourage everyone who receives an invitation to please go online and complete the survey," said Director of Public Health, Dr Nicola Brink. "We need as many people as possible to give their views so that we can gather all the relevant information and then use this to help plan our future services."

The study is available online here.