HIGH STREET BOOKMAKERS AND B2 GAMING MACHINES

Early day motion 2634, tabled 24 January 2012 by Baroness Hodge of Barking (Labour). Signed by 35 members.

That this House is alarmed by the proliferation of B2 gaming machines in high street bookmakers and licensed betting offices, from 16,380 in 2006-07 to 32,000 today; is concerned that B2 machines offer fast, high stakes gambling in easy-to-access shops, effectively making them high street casinos; notes that these machines allow people to play as many as 180 roulette games an hour and can take up to 100 every 20 seconds; further notes the finding of the Portas Review that bookmakers are circumventing limits on the number of gaming machines in a single shop; acknowledges that problem gambling ruins lives and that research shows people on low incomes are particularly vulnerable; and calls on the Government to review the Gambling Act 2005, significantly reducing stake and prize limits for gaming machines and restricting game speeds to a more appropriate level, and to make parliamentary time available for the Betting Shops Bill presentedby the right hon. Member for Lewisham, Deptford in July 2011 which creates a separate use class for betting shops allowing local authorities and communities more control over what appears on high streets as recommended by the Portas Review.

Signatures by party: Labour 19, Liberal Democrat 7, Conservative 2, Plaid Cymru 2, Social Democratic and Labour Party 2, Alliance 1, DUP 1, Green 1.