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Despite public demand for more fruit machines, licensees face a challenge to benefit from the Gambling Bill. Phil Mellows examines the debate.While...

Despite public demand for more fruit machines, licensees face a challenge to benefit from the Gambling Bill. Phil Mellows examines the debate.

While attention centres on the new wave of casinos promised by the draft Gambling Bill, it looks as though pubs are going to have a hard time squeezing much benefit out of the so-called deregulation.

According to research carried out on behalf of Business in Sport & Leisure (BISL), 76 per cent of people would like to see an increase in the number of gaming machines allowed in pubs - currently limited to two per bar. An instant poll on thepublican.com showed that half of publicans would like the freedom to choose how many AWP machines they have on their premises.

But both the public and the trade face a tough debate on the issue over the next year or so. Although the bill is due to be mentioned in the Queen's Speech today (Wednesday), it is not likely to become law during this Parliament. That, at any rate, gives the pub industry a chance to argue its case.

The Gambling Bill has itself been through a long gestation. New Labour's enthusiasm to bring current gaming legislation into the world of the internet and generally liberal attitudes towards having a flutter has been tempered by concerns that the drinks trade will find familiar.

Announcing the launch of the bill at BISL's annual conference, Tessa Jowell, secretary of state for culture, media and sport, described the government's strategy as "a controlled evolution".

"Adults will have a greater freedom of choice but I am not in favour of a free-for-all," she said, specifying, for the pub trade's benefit, that "we will not allow gaming machines to proliferate".

"Numbers and prizes will be limited. Pubs, clubs and cafés will be allowed to keep what they have now but there will be no increase in the prizes available."

Teasingly, Ms Jowell did not specify that an increase in the numbers of machines allowed in pubs was out of the question - although in the context of her speech you can expect her to fight hard against that. The problems where pubs are concerned are, firstly, they are not an environment in which gambling is the chief activity and, secondly, they are increasingly a family environment.

This gives an ironic twist to the 2003 Licensing Act which will make it easier for children to go into pubs. Without, hopefully, putting ideas into the government's head, the logic of the gambling legislation might suggest that pubs should not be allowed to have fruit machines and children in the same room.

Ms Jowell also failed to distinguish between pubs and unlicensed premises with lower stake machines, such as cafés and take-aways, which are distinctly less adult environments.

It was a point made later in the day at the same conference by Iain Wilkie of accountants Ernst & Young which carried out the survey for BISL. The general thrust of the research results were certainly in favour of deregulation. Eight out of 10 people support a change to the current 40-year-old laws and nearly half believe that gambling is harmless if not taken too seriously.

There is also enthusiasm for the casino resorts that could bring Las Vegas to British seaside towns once the legislation goes through. This mood for a flutter could, given the chance, extend to pub machines Iain Wilkie believes.

"Only nine per cent of people gamble on fruit machines often or sometimes," he said. "Another 13 per cent play only rarely - but they are the people who will be interested in more leisure-led gambling. There is 76 per cent of the population who think that more machines in pubs would be acceptable and the idea that it should be up to adults to decide when and where they gamble came through very strongly in the research."

He contrasted the British situation to that in Australia where pubs and bars have 10 times the number of machines per outlet.

"That adds up to a real cocktail of alcohol and machines and it's not what we anticipate will happen here."

As well as children, the bill aims to protect "the vulnerable" yet, as Ms Jowell herself mentioned, the UK has a remarkably low number of problem gamblers at only 0.75 per cent of the adult population. Four out of 10 calls for help to gambling charities are machine related but, as Iain Wilkie says, "it depends on the machine" and the government seems more concerned about the new fixed odds machines you now find in betting shops.

David Purvis, sales director at Leisure Link, the biggest machine supplier to pubs, was optimistic about the prospects.

"There is a lot to be clarified in the bill," he said. "The devil is in the detail. But it's good that pubs can keep what they have and there seems to be the potential to get more machines.

"There is everything to go for and pub operators should prepare now to optimise the opportunity. The devil is in the detail but the bill gives us a good foundation to build from."

Pubs have a strong case that they should be allowed to benefit from the legislation. They have the public on their side and they can offer the controlled environment of a licensed premises. The draft bill leaves many grey areas to tussle over and the minister promises "an exciting and challenging debate ahead". Let's make sure she gets one.

Licensees say...

In a poll on thePublican.com, users were asked what they thought about the government's indication that it was reluctant to allow more than the current two gaming machines. This is how they voted: