The Health and Wellbeing Board discussed a range of critical public health issues, with a significant focus on tackling gambling harms through a new levy-funded initiative and the development of the Lambeth Local Plan. The Board also received an update on the Director of Public Health's quarterly activities, which included work on mental health, immunisation, and heat resilience.

Gambling Harms

The Board received a comprehensive update on the emerging approach to tackling gambling harms in Lambeth, a significant public health issue affecting an estimated 41,250 adults in the borough, with a further 8,110 identified as being at high risk. This harm extends to an average of six other individuals for each high-risk gambler. The discussion highlighted the multifaceted nature of gambling-related harm, encompassing financial hardship, severe mental health impacts, increased risk of suicide, relationship breakdown, and links to crime.

Lambeth has received £66,691.27 from the new statutory gambling levy, which aims to fund research, prevention, and treatment. The council is collaborating with five other South East London boroughs to pool resources and develop a joint Gambling Harms Needs Assessment, which is due to be published. This assessment will inform a local prevention plan, complementing wider South East London initiatives.

Key proposals include:

• Primary Prevention: Raising awareness, challenging the normalisation of gambling, tackling stigma, reducing exposure to advertising, and strengthening planning and licensing to limit the growth of gambling premises.
• Secondary Prevention: Building workforce capability through training, embedding routine enquiries about gambling harm in frontline services, improving awareness and access to support, and addressing barriers for under-represented groups.
• Tertiary Prevention: Planning for rising demand for treatment services and improving data sharing to inform joint planning.

Presentations were given by representatives from the Primary Care Gambling Service (PCGS) and Age UK Lambeth, who are delivering the Better Together programme. PCGS highlighted their national service, which offers timely treatment and education to primary care workforces, seeing approximately 4,500 patients since COVID-19. Age UK Lambeth's Better Together programme focuses on community outreach, education, and personalised social prescribing, with a particular emphasis on minority communities.

The Board was urged to note the progress and direction of travel towards a public health approach to preventing gambling harms. Further discussions are planned, with a commitment to bring this topic back to the Board in Spring/Summer 2027.

Lambeth Local Plan

The Board was asked to note the upcoming timelines and plans for the development of the Lambeth Local Plan, a crucial document that sets out the vision for how the borough will grow and improve over the next 10-15 years. The plan is a legal requirement and must be reviewed every five years, with the current plan adopted in September 2021. Significant planning reforms and a new National Planning Policy Framework have necessitated the creation of a new local plan.

The public health team has been providing input into the plan, highlighting opportunities to influence the built environment, which has wide-ranging effects on residents' health and wellbeing. This includes considerations around housing, green space, and the location of gambling premises. The revised national planning policy framework now explicitly requires plans to identify opportunities to promote good health and prevent ill health.

The consultation on the local plan is currently underway, focusing on identifying key issues and opportunities and how communities wish to be involved. The Board was asked to endorse the Lambeth Public Health team to continue providing input and expertise into the development of the local plan. A process was agreed whereby the Public Health team would coordinate a draft response, which would be circulated to Board members for comment before being finalised by the Chair for submission by the 13 October deadline. The Board will have further opportunities to discuss the local plan as its development progresses.

Director of Public Health Quarterly Report

Ruth Hutt, Director of Public Health, presented her quarterly report, covering activities from July to September 2026. Key highlights included:

• Mental Health and Wellbeing: Continued delivery of mental health awareness and suicide prevention training, with a forthcoming recruitment for a mental health promotion outreach worker. The report also highlighted the Lived Experience of Suicide conference on 6 October.
• Gambling Harms: Progress on the joint South East London (SEL) Gambling Harms Needs Assessment and the development of a local plan, complementing SEL-wide initiatives.
• Lambeth Stop Smoking Service (Under 18s): Outreach activities over the summer engaged 130 young people with