The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has asked the Gambling Commission to investigate how the industry funds gambling research, treatment and public education, following the publication of a survey showing that gambling is no more problematic now than it was seven years ago.

The Gambling Prevalence Study revealed that problem gambling has affected only 0.6 per cent of the adult population since its last survey in 1999, making Britain one of the countries with the lowest rate of problem gambling worldwide.

The survey of around 9,000 people between September 2006 and March 2007 on 17 different areas of gambling found that the biggest draw was the National Lottery (57 per cent rate), followed by scratch cards (20 per cent), horse racing (17 per cent), slot machines (14 per cent) and lottery tickets (12 per cent).

However, the government has warned against complacency despite the report’s findings and has requested that the Gambling Commission carries out an appraisal on the success of existing voluntary arrangements on funding gambling research, treatment and public education, including an examination of current funding levels, how the money is spent and whether a statutory levy should be considered.

Minister Gerry Sutcliffe said: “I welcome the Gambling Commission’s prevalence survey, which establishes a useful benchmark against which we can assess the effectiveness of the new Gambling Act.

“While the results show that problem gambling still only affects a small minority of people, it remains a serious issue which must be addressed.

“The industry has a responsibility to make the right level of funding available to treat those who are harmed by its products. And we owe it to the public to make sure that they have ready access to the facts that they need to make informed choices about gambling, to help reduce the risks.”