Fixed-odd bet stakes could be cut to £20

‘Status quo is not an option’

THE maximum stake on ‘crack cocaine’ gambling machines could be cut to £20 after a Mail campaign.

Gamblers will no longer be able to bet a maximum £100 on the addictive fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) under plans to be unveiled this week.

The machines have long caused concern among campaigners over their ‘devastating’ effects.

Yesterday ministers bowed to pressure following warnings the machines in High Street bookmakers were destroying families and communities.

Culture Minister Tracey Crouch will announce proposals to limit how much can be spent on the machines, which allow gamblers to place bets of up to £100 every 20 seconds.

She will demand the cap of £100 is reduced by at least half. A figure between £2 and £50 is said to be under consideration.

While campaigners have pushed for the maximum to be as low as £2, if the cap is reduced only to £50 it would be seen as ministers giving in to the betting industry, which would consider the result a success.

A further figure between £10 and £30 will also be considered, with £20 thought most likely.

A reduction to £2 would cost the Treasury £1billion in betting taxes by 2020. But the ‘status quo is not an option’, a Government source said.

A review is set to be published this week by Westminster’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

However, that will not give a specific recommendation, instead putting forward a 12week consultation to hear from bookmakers and campaigners.

Dr Alan Smith, Bishop of St Albans, has said he believes FOBTs, which can take up to £18,000 an hour, are responsible for debt, the break-up of families and rising levels of violence in some communities.

Earlier this month Tory MP Chris Philp, an aide to Chancellor Philip Hammond, called for a crackdown on the terminals. A study by the ResPublica think-tank found the UK was the only rich country allowing gamblers to stake £100 every 20 seconds on casino-style games on the high street.

It warned that 1.5million Britons now use the machines and the terminals cause disproportionate harm to poorer areas.

The amount gamblers lose on FOBTs has increased by 73 per cent since 2009, according to the Gambling Commission.

A report found the British gambling industry has profited from the growth of online games and the liberalisation of gambling laws under Labour.

The issue of FOBTs previously caused a split between the Treasury, which feared losing the takings, and DCMS, which is responsible for the industry. Last month, Mr Hammond appeared to back down after he confirmed a review of the betting industry’s use of the machines will be published.

But bookmakers are resisting attempts to limit the stakes.

The Association of British Bookmakers said that curbing maximum stakes on FOBTs from £100 to £2 would damage the industry and the economy.

But it is likely to have to yield, especially following criticism of its treatment of vulnerable customers after the firm 888 received a record £8million fine in August.

DCMS is expected to publish the review tomorrow. The department’s final decision on the cap will have to be approved by Parliament.