Call to slash £100 stake on terminals

THE Government is being urged to rethink its decision not to cut the stake size on fixed odds betting terminals, by the London council spearheading the fight against the controversial machines.

Newham Mayor Sir Robin Wales is calling for the maximum stake to be cut from £100 a spin to £2. In November 2014, he led a crossparty group of 93 local authorities calling for the Government to act.

He said lax planning laws and lax licensing rules had led to clustering of betting shops on high streets.

It was the largest ever proposal to be submitted under the Sustainable Communities Act, but it was rejected by the Government.

On Wednesday, the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Local Government Association and Newham Council are due to meet again. Sir Robin said: ‘The Government has been dragging its heels, ignoring the demand of local authorities which represent almost half of the population that something must be done about these lucrative, electronic casinos to protect our high streets.

‘I urge it to end this unnecessary and undemocratic delay this week.’

Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, called the terminals ‘a blight on society’ in his election campaign, saying: ‘It is abundantly clear that tougher regulation is needed to combat their corrosive influence.’