A report published ahead of the meeting explained that as many as one in twelve people in the UK – that is around 5.5 million individuals – may be experiencing the harms of gambling.

Sheffield Council will adopt a gambling strategy as a report finds 45,000 people, including children, in the city have been affected.

Members of the council’s strategy and resources policy committee approved a prevention strategy so the local authority with the help of its partners – such as the national charity Gambling with Lives – will implement a plan to try and reduce gambling harms in the city over the next ten years.

A report published ahead of the meeting explained that as many as one in twelve people in the UK – that is around 5.5 million individuals – may be experiencing the harms of gambling.

This number is approximately 45,000 in Sheffield.

Those being affected by gambling are not necessarily those gambling – these individuals can be partners and spouses, children affected by a parent’s gambling and parents affected by a child’s gambling.

At the meeting, Charlie Ritchie from Gambling with Lives told members that his son had taken his life because of gambling and other “bright, happy, young” people have chosen to do the same due to gambling over the last few years.

He added there were millions of people in the country being harmed – and we don’t even know, to this day, how many have died because of it.

The estimate is between 100 and 500 a year.

“It is a public health crisis,” he said.

Mr Ritchie talked long about some shops being deceiving and the industry targeting those, including women, in the most deprived areas.

Gambling harms also cost a lot of money to society and our communities, figures show.

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities estimates that the annual economic burden of gambling harms in England is £1.05 to £1.77 billion a year.

Sheffield accounts for roughly one per cent of this – this burden in Sheffield is estimated at as much as £17.7 million a year.

Sheffield’s new strategy will aim to:

Reduce exposure to gambling products, recognising the unfair distribution of gambling harms.

Improve identification and recognition of gambling harms.

Protect children and young people from gambling industry products and practices.

Influence the regulatory environment to make prevention a priority.

And provide effective treatment.

During the discussion in the chamber, Cllr Abdul Khayum said not so long ago harm through gambling was behind the scene but this has changed over the years, and this strategy will play an important role in try and tackle the issue.

Cllr Shaffaq Mohammed added one of the most concerning facts is that one in 12 people in Sheffield is experiencing harms from gambling which means it’s not just an individual’s problem but whole families are suffering.

He said: “I suspect we all know someone – I absolutely know someone within my friendship circle, family circles that are involved in gambling.”

Following the meeting, Cllr Douglas Johnson, a City ward councillor, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LRDS): “I very much welcome a new approach to the harms caused by the gambling business and I look forward to all parts of the council taking steps to protect people from harm – especially young people.

“As a councillor for City Ward, I have had to deal with the consequences for residents of nuisance behaviour and begging around clusters of betting shops. We have moved a long way from when I was first elected and the council had a policy actively recognising the benefits of gambling. We now know more about the harm it does.

“I was also pleased that Charles Ritchie of Gambling with Lives could be present at the committee meeting today. He talked from the heart-breaking point of view of someone whose son took his own life because of addiction to gambling. There is every reason to prevent further cases like this if we can.”

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