Board Members - Advisory Board for Safer Gambling

Overview of the Advisory Board for Safer Gambling (ABSG)

ABSG is an independent expert advisory board which:

• helps deliver the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms
• helps increase research capacity and capability through engaging with a wide range of experts
• helps share findings about best practice so they have an impact
• helps solve policy dilemmas where research evidence is lacking or ambiguous.

ABSG does this by:

• providing independent advice to the Gambling Commission on the implementation of the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms
• monitoring progress of the Strategy
• recommending priorities for research
• strengthening prevention and treatment through robust research, evaluation and practice
• working collaboratively with others who have expertise, bringing them together to discuss issues of mutual concern.

ABSG’s values are:

• integrity - we are honest, we listen to others and consider carefully diverse views
• transparency - we are open
• excellence - we are committed to high standards
• collaborative - we work with others to reduce harm

ABSG is funded, and is provided with secretariat support, by the Gambling Commission.

Criteria

Board members contribute to the development of expert advice, through discussions at Board meetings, engagement with stakeholders and participation in working groups on key topics between meetings.

The Commission is seeking two new Board members to ABSG who have expertise in developing and implementing public health policy – to continue to support work to ensure that a public health approach is embedded in efforts to reduce gambling-related harms. Ideally, the preferred candidate will have experience of:

• Government, strategic and delivery arrangements for health care and public health activities across Scotland, Wales and England. An understanding of the differences in approach, and experience of operating across the GB nations is highly desirable.
• Co-ordinating and delivering national public health strategies
• Leading national programmes to safeguard the health and wellbeing of vulnerable children and young people.

Successful candidates will need to be authoritative and expert in their field. Previous experience of issues relating to gambling is not essential, but they should be able to show how their experience relates to the work that ABSG engages in. Successful candidates will also need to be able to assess evidence objectively to provide balanced strategic advice and have experience of partnership working and stakeholder engagement. Experience of working on other executive or advisory boards in the public, voluntary or private sector is desirable.

Time commitment

The time commitment for a Board member is expected to be up to 2 days per month on average. This includes attending six Board meetings per year (usually in London) and engaging on thematic issues via working groups and research projects and reviewing and commenting on relevant advice papers and documents.

To apply

Please upload your CV and a covering letter with examples and evidence of how your skills, knowledge and experience meet the criteria for one of these positions to the Gambling Commission’s recruitment portal. The closing date for applications is 18 September

For further information

• For information on the Gambling Commission visit: www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk
• For information on ABSG visit: http://www.absg.org.uk/Home.aspx or email info@absg.org.uk
• For information on the National Strategy for Reducing Gambling Harms visit: http://www.reducinggamblingharms.org/