Newham Council leads 93 councils in call to curb casino-style gambling on the high street

Quite a number of locals have expressed their concern with the growth of betting ships on Green Lanes over the past seven or eight years. Some of use have even been directly involved in trying to halt their spread. So it is with interest that I read if Newham Council's attempt to give councils more powers to act on residents' concerns.

Newham is leading 93 councils from up and down the country in calling on the government to bring an end to casino-style gambling on the nation’s high streets.

The Council is lodging a Sustainable Communities Act proposal (attached) with the Department for Communities and Local Government today demanding that the government reduces the maximum stakes on betting shop B2 gaming machines, also known as fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs), from £100 a spin to £2.

Approximately 50% of all profits made by land based bookmakers are now derived from FOBTs. The game driving this explosion in profits is Roulette, which accounts for approximately 90% of turnover and profit.

Between 2002 and 2012 the number of FOBTs has risen to over 34,000 and the profit generated for bookmakers has now reached over £1.4 billion. Ladbrokes, William Hill and Coral make more than £900 per week profit from each roulette machine they operate and they are allowed to have up to four per betting shop.  

Last month an Ipsos Mori poll found that 70 per cent of respondents believed that the maximum bet of £100 on FOBTs is too much. And a YouGov survey from April 2014 saw 61 per cent of respondents supporting a reduction on the maximum stake to £2 per spin, similar to the level of stakes available on other gaming machines.