There is no fun in problem gambling
THE days of people being able to bet up to £100 every 20 seconds on electronic casino games could be coming to an end.
A UK Government consultation proposes that the maximum stake could fall to somewhere between £2 and £50.
This shows that ministers are at last waking up to the extent of concern about the impact of fixedodds betting terminals (FOBTs).
The Campaign for Fairer Gambling estimated that customers in Wales lost more than £50m on FOBTs between September 201415.
It is not hard to think of better ways that this cash could have been invested that would have helped Welsh businesses and benefitted the gamblers and their families. There may be some wealthy players who can afford to throw away earnings on simulated games of blackjack and roulette, but the dire state of income levels in Wales was laid out in recent figures from the Office for National Statistics.
It is even more troubling if the people funnelling cash into terminals are “problem gamblers”. There are profound ethical questions if an industry is profiting from people who are suffering from various levels of addiction.
Culture minister Tracey Crouch made an understatement when she described present gaming laws as “inappropriate”.
No government would contemplate stopping people having a flutter on the Grand National. But any responsible administration will want to ensure that online gaming and cash-guzzling terminals are properly regulated.
A proper debate is needed about the best way to help those with gambling problems and protect children and young people in a country where, according to the Association of British Bookmakers, “4% of Britain’s entire retail units” are betting shops.
The Welsh Government will soon have the opportunity to introduce its own measures. From April 2018, AMs will have powers over those gaming machines that are authorised by a new betting premises licence where the maximum charge for a single play is more than £10.
FOBTs have been described as the “crack cocaine of gambling” and there are an estimated 20,000 such terminals across the UK.
Failure to regulate intelligently would be a dereliction of a government’s responsibility towards vulnerable people.
The consultation proposes that gambling operators could face a levy if they fail to “step up” and provide funding for research, education and treatment. The danger to people’s wellbeing is too great to ignore.
A survey commissioned by the Gambling Commission in 2015 identified 1.1% of people in Wales as problem gamblers (1.9% of men, 0.2% of women). It found that 3.8% were “at low or moderate risk of developing problems with their gambling”.
There is nothing censorious about a society taking responsible steps to help those at risk of destructive behaviour. If the UK Government fails to act then Wales will have a chance to blaze a path. The Western Mail newspaper is published by Media Wales a subsidiary company of Trinity Mirror PLC, which is a member of IPSO, the Independent Press Standards Organisation. The entire contents of The Western Mail are the copyright of Media Wales Ltd. It is an offence to copy any of its contents in any way without the company’s permission. If you require a licence to copy parts of it in any way or form, write to the Head of Finance at Six Park Street. The recycled paper content of UK newspapers in 2016 was 62.8%