According to statistics which have recently been rolled out by the Campaign for Fairer Gambling, gamblers who live in the north and north-east regions of the UK have spent over £114 million on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) in local betting shops in a period of eight years only.
As reported by The Press and Journal, the data released by the Campaign for Fairer Gambling showed that Aberdeen players spent an amount exceeding £63.5 million on the controversial machines from 2008 to 2016. According to the statistics, approximately £25 million of that amount was spend on fixed-odds betting terminals by people who have been suffering from problem gambling behaviour. In 2016 alone, the amount lost on FOBTs in Aberdeen reached £9 million.
In addition, the Aberdeenshire residents have lost a little more than £24 million over the same period of time. The figure in Highland amounts to £18 million, while in Moray it was £7.4 million. The Western Isles’ residents lost £1.1 million between 2008 and 2016.
The total amount of money that has been lost in Scotland over the afore-mentioned period was £1,158,085,657, which accounts for over than £250,000 per week.
SNP Insists for FOBTs Maximum Stake Reduction to £2
FOBTs have been widely criticised over the past few years, with some anti-gambling organisations, political parties and charities insisting that the UK Government must reduce the maximum stake allowed at the machines to as low as possible in order to deal with the negative effects of gambling-related harm.
The machines which allow players to make a maximum bet of £100 every 20 seconds, have been blamed for the increasing number of gambling addiction. This March, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) made a recommendation that the maximum stakes allowed should be cut to as much as £30.
On the other hand, only a couple days ago, the member of the Aberdeen Central Scottish National Party (SNP) Kevin Stewart called for the country’s Government to fully ban the machines, or if not, to reduce the FOBTs maximum stake to £2 only. He said that the amount of £63 million lost on FOBTs in Aberdeen alone from 2008 to 2016 was “appalling”. As previously shared by Mr. Stewart, the FOBTs affected some of the most vulnerable people in local communities, which was a reason good enough for the terminals to be fully suspended. He further said that in case that the machines are not banned, the UK Government should make sure that the notorious betting terminals feature the lowest possible maximum stakes.
In addition, the Chief Executive Officer of the Fast Forward youth charity Alistair MacKinnon shared that tackling gambling-related harm could be done by taking a range of actions, and lowering the maximum stake allowed at fixed-odds betting machines would be one of them.
The suggestion of the SNP also faced some opposition, too. The Association of British Bookmakers (ABB) insisted that gambling operators’ betting shops make a significant contribution to both the national and the local economy. According to a statement released by a spokesman of the ABB, approximately 400 people were employed in Aberdeen City and Aberdenshire to date, with the local bookmakers paying taxes of about £8.5 million.
- Author
Daniel Williams
