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 Welcome to
the News desk.
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| Parliamentary inquiry into FOBTs to be
launched |
09/06/16 |
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 Editor |
• Long awaited
review begins in 2017
A Parliamentary
inquiry into fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) is set to report on the
controversial B2 machines early next year.
The FOBT All-Party Group
will take evidence from a range of stakeholders, including gambling addiction
experts and machine users, regulators, executives from the gaming industry and
their representatives.
The inquiry gets under way in July and it is
believed that the group will publish the findings of the ‘Fixed Odds
Betting Terminals – Assessing the Impact’ inquiry early in 2017.
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The group, which is
chaired by MP Carolyn Harris and held its first meeting last month, has already
written to Culture Secretary John Whittingdale, outlining its concerns about
FOBTs. In the letter the group asked for a reduction in bets on FOBTs to
£2.
They wrote: “Colleagues in both Houses made clear our
concern about their impact on the young and vulnerable. Many have reported the
tragic impact FOBTs are having on their lives.
“These machines are
highly dangerous products, acting as a catalyst for problem gambling, social
breakdown and serious crime in communities. It is estimated that 7,000 FOBT
machines are smashed and there are 10,000 policy call outs to bookmakers as a
result of FOBT-related violence every year.”
The UK’s Local
Government Association (LGA) has again urged the government to cut the maximum
stake on fixed-odds betting machines (FOBTs) in the region.
Punters in
the UK can currently wager up to £100 (€129/$145) on FOBTs, but the
government has faced calls from various groups to lower this to a maximum of
£2.
The LGA has upheld this demand, stating that stakes should be
cut to £2 on FOBT machines in high street shops and £5 in casinos,
while also calling for cumulative impact tests to be introduced to enable UK
councils to reject applications for new betting shops in areas where there are
already a cluster of shops.
In addition, the LGA said that current
licensing laws should be updated to allow councils to take health issues
associated with problem gambling and anti-social behaviour concerns into
account when considering shop applications. The organisation also noted that a
triennial review of gaming machine stakes in the UK is now due, with the last
assessment having been staged in January 2013.
Despite heightened
awareness of the devastating effects of problem gambling, there is some
uncertainty over whether the numbers of pathological gamblers are
rising.
The British gambling prevalence survey
indicates that there are around 450,000 pathological gamblers
in the country – about 0.9% of the population. Although industry revenues
have risen dramatically, this figure has for the moment remained stable; the
results of a new Health Survey for England, expected in the summer, may shed
clearer light on whether the problem is growing.
The charity GamCare,
which operates the National Gambling Helpline, says it handled an 18% increase
in calls from problem gamblers in 2014-15 and saw a 39% rise in clients in
treatment.
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