Don’t look west if you fancy a flutter
IF you live in Mumbles or Gower and enjoy a flutter down the bookies, you need to get in your car or catch a bus.
Ladbrokes, Coral and William Hill signs are conspicuously lacking in the wealthier parts of the county compared to communities in the east and centre.
Swansea has 32 licensed betting shops and only two are in the Swansea West area – namely Sketty and Killay.
Their predominance in certain parts of the city has surprised Swansea Conservative leader, councillor Lyndon Jones.
“I was quite shocked to see the breakdown,” he said.
He had requested the number and location of the city’s bricks and mortar bookmakers after noticing he had not seen any in Mumbles, Gowerton and Gower.
“It’s quite amazing that they’re almost all in the east of Swansea,” he said.
Morriston and Cockett have three betting shops each, Llansamlet and Gorseinon have two, while Bonymaen, Cwmbwrla, Clydach, Landore, St Thomas, Townhill, Pontarddulais and Lower Loughor have one.
There are 12 in Castle, which covers the city centre.
Swansea Council has a lot of socio-economic data about its 32 wards, but there isn’t a clear affluence or deprivation ranking from one to 32. However, as a general rule of thumb, wards in the centre and east of Swansea tend to have lower numbers of managerial and professional workers, more unemployed people and more food banks compared to wards in the west, where deprivation levels are lower.
But some wards in the east, like Morriston, also have a big population.
Morriston councillor Ceri Evans said he had seen no evidence that betting companies targeted certain areas over others, but would be concerned if he did.
“Unfortunately gambling is endemic throughout society presently,” he said.
Online gambling accounted for just under £5 billion of the gambling industry’s total £14 billion yield in 2017.
The sector brings in a lot of tax revenue, while gambling advertising was worth a reported £200 million last year to broadcasters.
Online gambling companies have agreed in principle to a voluntary advertising ban during live sport after concerns were raised that children were developing gambling habits.
Swansea East MP Carolyn Harris has campaigned successfully against the maximum stake at fixed-odds betting machines in high street betting shops, which allow people to bet large sums in a very short time.
The UK Government has agreed to cut the maximum bet from £100 to £2, which will take effect from next April.
Mr Jones, meanwhile, said he also could not say if betting shops targeted particular areas, but added: “I wonder if there is a similar trend in other towns and cities?”