Over the weekend, the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, was reported to had been trying to stop the Government’s FOBTs review over some concerns that a change implemented in country’s staking rules could have a negative impact to the UK Treasury.
It came to Casino Guardian’s knowledge that in Chancellor Hammond’s opinion the massive reduction of the maximum stakes offered by FOBTs from £100 to £2 only would be a serious blow to the Treasury.
Fixed-odds betting terminals have become a controversial issue across the UK due to the increased concerns of their high addictiveness. Back in 2016, the Scottish National Party (SNP) harshly criticised FOBTs, with its members expressing their increasing concerns related to the betting outlet’s popularity among local customers. Party officials insisted at the time that the Government should bolster the measures imposed on British bookmakers in order to prevent at least some of the negative consequences related to betting in the region.
According to one of the SNP MPs, Ronnie Cowan, there were serious grounds for the Government to see that fixed-odds betting machines were linked directly to problem gambling behaviour of a large number of FOBTs punters, so the Government should carefully consider its next steps in regards to the FOBTs review.
For some time now, various politicians and campaign groups have protested against fixed-odds betting terminals, urging the Government to take the necessary measure in order to tap the negative effects related to FOBTs betting. Back in October 2016, the Ministry for Culture, Media and Sports released a special consultation on the maximum stakes that should be allowed on fixed-odds betting machines.
Currently, the maximum stake allowed at such machines amounts to £100 and can be placed every 20 seconds. However, certain British lawmakers and local customer-protection organisations have protested against these maximum stakes describing them as too high and called for their reduction to £2.
The local Government has been expected to carry out the FOBTs’ review and, eventually, back a stakes reduction as a result of the nation-wide criticism that has recently put fixed-odds betting machines under scrutiny. The review was expected to start in the autumn of 2017, but it has already been delayed due to certain disagreements between the Treasury and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Now, the Chancellor’s concerns that such a clampdown on maximum FOBTs stakes could result in a serious reduction of the tax income generated from fixed-odds betting terminals.
As reported by Casino Guardian at the beginning of July, the rift between the above-mentioned UK authorities have been arguing on some matters concerning the regulation of FOBTs.
According to local lawmakers, FOBTs generate over half of the profits of UK-based bookmakers. At the same time, they have reported that players who bet on FOBTs lost a massive amount of over £1.6 billion in 2015. With more than 34,000 fixed-odds betting machines located in the UK to date, the amount generated by the FOBTs for annual taxes has been estimated to £400 million. This is a massive amount of money that the country’s Government can not afford to lose, and this was exactly one of the main motives of Chancellor Hammond to oppose the expected review and the potential reduction of FOBTs’ maximum stakes.
According to a statement of the Ministry of Culture, Media and Sports published over the weekend, the planned review of FOBTs’ current stakes and prizes will happen as expected, with its conclusions expected to be published in the autumn. The review was expected to appear in October at the earliest.
- Author
Daniel Williams
