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Jims Amendment to the Gambling Act Bill

Mr. Jim Cunningham (Coventry, South) (Lab): I beg to move,

That leave be given to bring in a Bill to amend the Gambling Act 2005 to allow for increased provision of casinos; and for connected purposes.

The Bill’s objectives are to amend the Gambling Act 2005 to allow a minimum of eight regional casinos, with the onus on the regeneration of key cities, as initially proposed by the Government. After the Act’s consideration in Committee, the Government introduced new clauses to set limits on the number of casinos. At that point, the number of regional casinos was set at eight, but as the Government faced opposition, that number was reduced to one. As a result, the national potential for jobs and investment will not be fully achieved.

The failure to recognise that loss of potential investment could result in the loss of about 22,000 possible jobs and an additional 17,000 support jobs. In total, the opportunity for 40,000 new jobs could have been lost, not to mention reductions in investment. The failure to support all the main regeneration schemes will have a negative effect and may put back regeneration programmes by about a decade. In total, the UK could lose the potential for more than £5 billion in investment, particularly in deprived areas.

In terms of protective legislation, the Secretary of State has addressed concerns regarding habitual gambling, stating that she does not think that casinos would increase problem gambling, and that she would prefer to close them if they did. In advance of the implementation of the relevant provisions of the Gambling Act 2005, and every two or three years thereafter, the Government intend to fund a national study that will measure the impact that any new casinos would have on the surrounding areas and the issue of problem gambling. In addition, provision has been made in the Act to establish the Responsibility in Gambling Trust. The trust has been established on a voluntary basis to provide funding to support problem gamblers and their dependants.

The casino advisory panel’s criteria, as laid down by the Secretary of State, were to ensure that location satisfies need, for there to be the best possible test of social impact to include areas of need and regeneration, for consideration to be given to areas that are likely to benefit in those terms from a new casino, and to ensure that the areas selected were willing to license a new casino. The panel condensed the applications down to a shortlist of eight. On the shortlist were Blackpool, Wembley, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield. I believe that the Government should increase the numbers of casinos, as the decision that has been taken is not based on the best interest of those areas that are in dire need.

Local authorities should not be fighting each other over restricted resources. Rather, the Government should allow a fair system of opportunity, and allow more than one area of need to benefit from regeneration, investment and jobs. The Government have hinted that legislation could be revisited, and that the permissible number of regional casino licences
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could be increased, given sufficient support from local authorities, MPs and the public. It should be remembered that the Government expect that a regional casino will be a major development, offering clear potential for regeneration, and providing not only a range of gambling activities, but also perhaps including hotel accommodation, conference facilities, restaurants, areas for live entertainment and other leisure attractions.

There is already a casino in Coventry that would meet the criteria, should the Government be willing to increase the numbers. In contrast to many other proposals, Coventry’s submission was based on an extensive, independent assessment. Therefore, I propose that an amendment be made to the Act, increasing the number of regional casinos from one to a minimum of eight.