London stalls for more than a year over Scotland’s gambling ‘problem’

WESTMINSTER has failed to act on concerns about problem gambling north of the Border, raised by the Scottish Government more than a year ago.

The Scotsman has seen correspondence between Kenny MacAskill and UK ministers in which the justice secretary warns there is “no room for complacency”.

He suggests new laws could be introduced in Westminster, further research carried out, or powers devolved to the Scottish Parliament to find a “distinctly Scottish approach”.

However, the last letter on the subject, released through Freedom of Information, was written more than a year ago, and the Scottish Government confirmed progress has stalled.

There is particular concern about fixed-odds betting terminals, featuring games such as 
digital roulette, which have 
become more common since the Gambling Act 2005.

Earlier this month, the Responsible Gambling Trust announced that it will conduct one of the biggest pieces of research into gaming machines ever conducted in the UK.

John Mason MSP, who has been among those raising concerns about problems in Scotland, said the research cannot come soon enough. I’m definitely concerned,” he said. “Kenny [MacAskill] is calling for a review and that is what I would want.

“I’m not surprised that a Conservative government, which is trying to deregulate generally, is not going to rush out and regulate the gambling industry.”

Mr Mason said he wants to see more powers given to local authorities to tackle gambling on their doorstep. “Councils can put a limit on hot food shops and sex shops, but they can’t put a limit on bookmakers,” he added. Another option would be tighter rules on advertising.

Mr Mason said: “At this point in time so many people are so without hope of some way out of their financial problems, that some glittering picture of 
winning all this money is very attractive.

“People have to make their own decisions but we, as a society, have a duty to protect. We’re doing that with alcohol, we’ve done it with tobacco, are we doing enough with gambling?”

Mr MacAskill’s letter to minister for tourism and heritage John Penrose was triggered by the Gambling Prevalence Survey 2010, which highlighted a problem north of the Border.

It found that 75 per cent of Scots have gambled in the past 12 months, higher than the UK average of 73 per cent.

Mr MacAskill wrote in September last year: “One particular concern is the high rate of 
participation in Scotland in fixed-odds betting terminals, that was revealed by the prevalence survey. There is some evidence that associates these machines with problem gambling for reasons such as the speed of play combined with the high permissible stakes.”

The UK government said it was committed to improved research on problem gambling. A spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: “Our priority is to establish a sound evidence base on which policy decisions on gambling regulation can be based.”