The Scottish government has pledged to do what it can to crack down on the proliferation of fixed-odds betting terminals in the country’s betting shops.
Although much of the legislation governing the controversial electronic table games is reserved to the UK Parliament, Scottish authorities hosted a summit earlier this year to consider a planning policy aimed at tackling the problem of clustering betting shops.
“FOBTs blight communities across Scotland with absolutely disastrous social and economic consequences,” said Stuart McMillan, a member of the Scottish National Party, which advocates secession from the United Kingdom. “Until Scotland becomes independent the powers of regulating gambling ultimately rest with Westminster, so the UK government must act now to protect people and families whose lives are being ruined by these machines.”
Glasgow City Treasurer and Councillor Paul Rooney said, “We want Scottish government ministers to give us the same power that councils in England and Wales will soon have to halt the clustering of betting shops in high streets and town centers.”
In Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city, it is estimated that gamblers are spending more than £200 million a year on FOBTs and losing more than £31 million, according to a report commissioned by the City Council which calls for tougher regulations to tackle problem gambling.
“I’m not against gambling, but the industry is regulated for a reason,” Rooney said. “It is to ensure that when gambling takes place in our communities it is within a safe, sustainable and responsible environment. In the case of fixed odds betting terminals, that principle has failed.”
Across the UK, bookmakers are generating around £1.5 billion a year from the machines—typically automated versions of roulette—more than from horseracing, dog racing and football betting combined.
Industry insiders admit around 5 percent of customers are likely to have some form of gambling problem, with these gamblers responsible for a disproportionately high level of bookmakers’ profits.
A recent nationwide YouGov survey on public perceptions of gambling showed 60 percent of respondents favor stricter regulation of the overall industry, and 58 percent of those who favor tighter rules want FOBTs banned. More 80 percent of those who want regulation say there should be fewer high street betting shops, and more than 75 percent support a ban on betting ads.
“To put these numbers in context, our study shows the public think that only the energy and banking sectors are more in need of tighter regulation,” a YouGov spokesman said.
