Don't gamble on the future of the high street
Association of British Bookmakers
With Fixed Odds Betting Terminals being debated today in Westminster Hall, the Association of British Bookmakers’ CEO says there is a need for both an evidence based debate and evidence-based policy making.
The facts are that there is no objective evidence from either past British Gambling Prevalence surveys or Government Health surveys that show problem gambling levels in the UK are rising.
In fact problem gambling levels in the UK have remained constant for the last 13 years, at around 0.5% of the adult population, and have not increased since the introduction of gaming machines over 10 years ago.
It is also a fact that the total number of betting shops across the UK is decreasing, numbers fell from 9,128 in March 2012 to 8,819 in September 2015. This downwards trend is likely to continue due to increased taxation and additional regulation.
Nor is the any evidence to show that banning one type of gambling product will solve problem gambling, any more than banning vodka will stop people becoming alcoholics. In fact, all the independent research shows that most people who develop problems with their gambling use many different types of products.
It is also claimed that people are losing £18,000 in an hour – something that is actually impossible to do; indeed, there is more chance of one person winning the National Lottery jackpot two weeks in a row with one ticket each week. It has never happened. In fact, the average stake on a gaming machine is £5.13 and the average customer only plays for about 11 minutes.
One of the reasons betting shops are the safest place to gamble is that our staff go through rigorous training to spot anyone who may be developing a problem, and ensure they get the help they need. Our staff do an amazing job, every day of the week.
In terms of machines, it would take a very blinkered approach not to recognise the measures betting shops have introduced in the last 2 years, through the ABB’s Responsible Gambling Code.
Gaming machine players can now set limits on the amount of time they play for, or what they spend. And there are mandatory limits imposed on top of that as well.
Since last year, the maximum stake has been effectively capped at £50, and the small number of customers wishing to stake a higher amount can only do so by going to the counter or setting up an account.
We also ceased advertising gaming machines in shop windows, and all machines now display responsible gambling messages while people are playing.
Eight million people choose to spend their leisure time and some of their money enjoying themselves in one of the UK’s high street bookmakers.
They do so because they know it is the safest place to gamble and neither they, nor any of our 40,000 staff want to see their local bookie undermined by myths and spin.
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