Writing to Your MP About the Gambling Bill

Gambling on our future?

Writing to your MP about the Gambling Bill

The Government has now published the Gambling Bill which it hopes will become law in 2005. The Methodist Church and the Salvation Army have welcomed the new protections that the Bill will put in place for children and young people, but fears that the expansion of the more addictive forms of gambling, including the introduction of new “regional” casinos” will lead to an increase in problem gamblers.

This briefing outlines the Bill, and suggests issues you might like to raise with your MP.

The good news….

The new Gambling Bill will set up a Gambling Commission to regulate all forms of gambling (other than spread betting and the National Lottery). This will give greater consistency and stronger tools of regulation

Internet gambling will be legalised. There are already hundreds of gaming sites based around the world which people can gamble on. At the moment these are unregulated. Many do not prevent children from using them. An NCH/Gamcare survey over the summer showed that only two companies refused access to a 16 year old girl with a Solo card. The Gambling Commission will be able to require high standards of social responsibility from British internet gambling sites, which will protect the customer

Fruit-machines will be removed from unlicensed venues, such as fish and chip shops. At the moment children are able to play on these machines in an unsupervised environment

Local authorities will be enabled to pass a resolution banning the licensing of any further casinos in their area if that is what local people want.

The Bill includes provision for a statutory levy to make the gambling industry pay for the treatment of people who develop addictions to gambling. The power will be held in reserve whilst the industry tries to do this on a voluntary basis.

The Gambling Commission will draw up Codes of Social Responsibility, and the industry will be required to abide by these or lose their licence. These will cover areas such as preventing children from gambling, reducing the addictive nature of certain games, providing accurate information for customers, and providing help for problem gamblers

The bad news…

At the same time as these very positive and much-needed protections, the Bill aims massively to increase the availability of harder or more addictive forms of gambling, particularly through the growth in the number of casinos and high value fruit-machines.

At the moment there are only 127 casinos in the country, and new ones are limited to particular areas and have to prove there is unmet demand for them. The proposals will remove these tests and establish new categories of small, large and regional or mega casinos. The Times reported that there are already 100 planning applications in for huge new casinos, six months before the legislation is passed. This would mean there was at least one casino in nearly every major town.

The regional casinos would be allowed up to 1,250 “Category A” machines, so-called million dollar jackpots, which have unlimited stakes and prizes. Research has shown that fruit-machines are one of the most addictive forms of gambling: they are very interactive, enable people to stake money very rapidly and encourage them to chase their losses. Research from Australia and the US has shown that the introduction of these high-value slot machines has been central in increasing the number of problem gamblers. Britain does not have any such machines at the moment. Under the legislation, every regional casino will have up to 1,250.

The Government is also talking about having “variable stakes and prizes” for Category B machines. These machines will be in bingo halls, betting shops and adult gaming centres. Unless the stakes and prizes are kept relatively low, we will see an explosion in addictive slot-machines on our high streets.

The Government has said that gambling is an adult activity. The vast majority of the population would agree. Yet Britain is one of the only western countries which allows children, of any age, to gamble. The low value slot machines in arcades may seem trivial to adults, but prizes of £5 and games where £6 can be staked in 10 minutes can be very significant for children. The addictive nature of fruit-machines is the same regardless of stake. Research suggests that gambling addiction amongst children may be as high as 1 in 20. Yet the Government is not taking the opportunity of the Bill to remove the message that gambling is “safe” for children.

Most people do not want a massive expansion in gambling. A Salvation Army/NOP poll showed that 93% of the population think that there are already enough opportunities to gamble.

The Government should update gambling law and introduce new protections, but proceed cautiously or not at all with proposals for increasing the accessibility of hard gambling.

What next…?

The Second Reading of the Gambling Bill will take place on the afternoon of Monday 1 November. The Second Reading offers MPs the opportunity to raise principled concerns about the Bill before the a cross-party committee goes through the Bill clause by clause. It lets the Government know the strength of feeling in the House of Commons.

If you have concerns about the proposals contained in the Gambling Bill, please write to your MP before Monday 1 November.

post letters to the House of Commons, Westminster, London SW1A 0AA
ring their office through the Commons switchboard on 020-7219-3000 or leave a message for them on 020-7219-5353.
visit to find out email addresses (where you can also search for the name of your MP by your postcode).

In your letter it is helpful to put things in your own words and speak from your own experience (eg if you are a parent or if you have seen the affect of problem gambling). You might like to consider:

Welcoming the positive contribution that parts of the Bill will make towards protecting children, requiring the gambling industry to behave in a socially responsible way and regulating the internet
Expressing concern about the impact of a massive explosion in “hard” or addictive forms of gambling. There are already a third of a million problem gamblers in Britain. Problem gambling leads to debt, family breakdown, ill health and even homelessness. An increase in addiction isn’t a price worth paying for more leisure opportunities.
Asking your MP to support changes to the Bill that will significantly reduce the number of new “mega casinos”. The number of regional casinos should be capped at two per region until the impact of these casinos is known
Asking for a much more cautious approach to the introduction of high-value slot machines. The impact of these machines should be monitored before they are made widespread.
Welcoming the decision to remove fruit-machines from unlicensed venues, but ask that children’s access to gambling machines in other places be restricted.
Asking your MP to write to Rt Hon Tessa Jowell MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, to raise your concerns with her. This will meant that Tessa Jowell is expected to reply to your MP, who should then forward her letter to you.

Further information and briefings will be available as the Bill progresses through the Methodist Church website – - or from Rachel Lampard, Secretary for Parliamentary and Political Affairs, 25 Marylebone Rd, London NW1 5JR tel 020-7467-5298 or email