Clause 17 - Amusement machine licence duty: rates
Finance Bill
3:50 pm
Mr Chris Bryant (Rhondda, Labour)
I am grateful to sit under your chairmanship, Sir John. This is my first time on a Finance Bill, and I am glad that there is someone with experience to guide me should I go in the wrong direction.
In my constituency, gaming machines form a vital part of the local economy by preserving our labour clubs. Many of those clubs would not be able to survive financially without the benefits provided by gaming machines. Many people who run the local
labour clubs are concerned to know where Government thinking is going when it comes to taxing that pleasure. The discussion is similar to an earlier one about cigarettes, and we must ask: do the Government want to try to discourage people from using gaming machines and is that the prime purpose of duty, or do they simply want to raise money?
The Government have proposed that we have four bands of gaming machines, rather than the present five. In one case, that will allow for unlimited stakes. As we move into that future, some idea of where the Government's thinking on gaming duty will be important.