Southampton City Council holds a scrutiny panel inquiry every year.

Members of the overview and scrutiny management committee settled on the topic at a meeting on Thursday, August 22.

Councillors were presented with a two-subject shortlist of gambling harms or a specific element of sustainable housing development.

Cllr Steve Leggett, Labour member for Banister and Polygon, said: “We more than likely all have stories about people we know who have had gambling addiction and the harm it does to society and I would say also from my perception when people see other people with gambling addictions they don’t see it as a medical condition.

“It’s also a bit hidden and simple things like sponsorship of our Premier League football teams by gambling companies.”

Cllr Leggett said the inquiry could lead to the creation of a proper research-based city-wide gambling strategy.

He added: “Maybe some people might say, and I don’t agree with this, the council’s ability to do something about this is minimal.

“I think the council can do something with this. If we look at the alcohol and drug strategy, it is quite successful.”

The committee heard that the gambling harms topic had the support of director of public health Debbie Chase, with background research already commissioned.

It was narrowly pipped in being last year’s inquiry topic, with getting a better deal for private sector renters the preferred option, chair Cllr Richard Blackman said.

Referencing Public Health England guidance and the responsible gambling strategy board’s report, Coxford Labour councillor Rebecca Greenhalgh said: “For every single problem gambler, six to 10 people are directly affected and that includes workplaces and communities.

“They are saying all local authorities should be viewing this as a public health problem and that they have a responsibility to identify gaps in their services and that includes children’s services.

“It’s a particular problem for children and young males as well as people living in deprivation and obviously in Southampton, we have got 55 per cent deprivation.

“Few if any councils have an understanding of the scale of harmful gambling in their areas or how it is contributing to the demand to local services.”

Conservative Harefield councillor Valerie Laurent said problem gambling can be the “ruination of a whole family”.

She added: “It can cause split family and absolutely destroy lives. How do you control it? Everybody likes a bet on something at some point, probably, but how do you control it and where do you manage to stop?”

After selecting gambling harms as the subject, officers will now work on outline terms of reference for the inquiry, which will be brought back before the committee for approval in October.

Recommendations at the conclusion of the inquiry are presented to cabinet, which must give a formal response on the administration’s planned actions.