Legal advice: Gambling on a fudge
Will the government's modifications of the proposed casino reform be enough to settle industry disquiet?
By David Clifton of thePublican.com's team of legal experts from London solicitors Joelson Wilson.
The Gambling Bill has commanded considerable adverse publicity over the past three months. The government appears to have been taken completely by surprise by the fairly hysterical reaction from many quarters of the press following its October presentation in Parliament. The major issue on which the Daily Mail and other newspapers have focused has been the proposal to introduce a new regime for casinos. The Bill proposes reform of a number of outdated restrictions:
- Removal of the 24-hour rule which prevents instant gaming at a casino
- Relaxation of advertising restrictions
- Dropping the demand test for new casinos
- Elimination of the current permitted areas rule, which restricts casinos to specified geographical parts of the country
The licensed trade is concerned that casinos will spring up, drawing customers away to new leisure environments which will offer alcohol until the early hours of the morning. It fears that Las Vegas-style entertainment and a range of high-value gaming machines will prove more attractive than that permitted in pubs.
However, fear not. For possibly the first time, the government has bowed its head to the views of the Daily Mail reader. Just before Christmas, the government announced to an incredulous gaming industry both here and abroad that it now intends to place a cap on the number of all new casinos, namely a total of 24 (ie eight in each size category) for at least the first three years that the new gambling legislation is in force.
An independent advisory panel will recommend the areas for each of the new regional casinos so that there is a good range of type, and good geographical spread. It is intended to restrict the casinos to areas in need of economic development.
We already knew that the number of gaming machines in new casinos would be capped, including the limit of 1,250 machines with unlimited jackpots in the largest regional casinos. What came as a surprise in the pre-Christmas announcement was that existing casinos would be restricted to their current maximum entitlement of just 10 machines with a maximum prize of £2,000 and would not be able to offer the betting and bingo that will be permitted in certain of the new casinos.
All of these restrictions are being introduced ostensibly to reduce the risk of an increase in problem gambling. The latest rumour is that the government will leave casino reform completely out of the Gambling Bill so as to boost the prospects of it being approved by Parliament before a May general election.
