Gambling 'heat maps' will help at risk - council

The council hopes the heat map will help them support those at greater risk

Heat maps which will detect increased risk of gambling harm will be introduced in a part of Merseyside.

Knowsley Council have set out their plans to launch gambling heat maps to locate areas where people are most vulnerable to the harmful effects gambling can have.

The map forms part of the borough's updated guidelines and proposals of their gambling policy, which must updated every three years.

Areas at greater risk will be given "special attention" with resources targeted to help those in need, a cabinet meeting heard.

Deprivation factors

Councillor Shelley Powell, cabinet member for communities and neighbourhoods, said the gambling heat map marked a "significant and important change" to the council's 2024-2027 gambling policy.

Age, deprivation, educational achievement, gender and ethnicity were all factors that could influence rates of gambling and gambling harm, according to the council report.

In Knowsley, rates of gambling harm were broadly similar to the rest of the country, but there were some risk factors because of high levels of deprivation.

It was known that those who were unemployed or economically inactive were more likely to experience problem gambling – the significance for Knowsley being that it has a higher proportion of people unemployed or economically inactive (24.3%) compared with the England average (20.5%), the report said.

Gambling policies generally deal with applications for gambling licenses and certain gambling activities, but the council has also made provision for a public consultation which included considerations to public health and wellbeing.