England’s municipal councils are demanding greater powers to refuse new betting shops and reduce stakes on the electronic table games they blame for a proliferation of the shops nationwide.
The powerful Local Government Association said councils are “frustrated” by the proliferation, which they blame for problem gambling and anti-social behavior.
There are already more than 30,000 of the e-tables, known as fixed odds betting terminals and mostly offering roulette, in the UK.
The LGA, which represents all English councils, is calling for a new “cumulative impact test,” which would allow planners to reject applications for new betting shops if there is already a cluster of them.
The association also wants licensing laws updated to include betting, so officials can take issues of problem gambling and anti-social behavior into account when considering applications.
Lastly, they say the current £100-a-spin maximum stake on the machines should be brought in line with maximum stakes for other gambling machines, which is £2 in pubs and £5 in casinos.
“Councils are not anti-bookies, but many are frustrated by limited powers available to them to act on community concerns and limit the number of shops opening up in their area,” said LGA spokesman Tony Page.
The announcement comes after 93 English councils submitted individual requests to MPs for a reduction in the maximum stakes on FOBTs and broader powers to reject betting shop applications under the Sustainable Communities Act.
