Clause 4 - Remote gambling
Gambling Bill
4:00 pm
Mr Richard Caborn (Minister of State (Sport and Tourism), Department for Culture, Media & Sport; Sheffield Central, Labour)
Amendment No. 75 would exclude linked or multiple bingo from clause 4, which covers remote gambling. The Government are resisting that.
The Bill contains a clause setting out the concept of remote gambling to cover gambling where the participants are not face to face on the same premises. Players who participate in linked or multiple bingo in different bingo halls are clearly neither face to face nor on the same premises.
Linked or multiple bingo takes place in many separate bingo halls throughout the country. The Bill does much to remove the burdens on bingo operators, particularly those relating to linked or multiple bingo. Such bingo is currently subject to a host of detailed regulation, such as rules about conduct and financial limits. The Bill does away with that, but it would not be appropriate to exclude such bingo from clause 4. Any gambling that is operated with remote communication equipment must be regulated through the appropriate licence by the gambling commission. Companies wishing to offer linked or multiple bingo will require a remote bingo operating licence with appropriate licence conditions to ensure fairness and protection for players. Bingo halls with a general bingo operating and premises licence will be able to offer linked or multiple bingo if they hold a remote bingo operating licence, or they can use the services of someone else who holds a licence.
The Bill must maintain coherent regulation of remote gambling and the amendment would damage that, so I ask the hon. Member for North-East Cambridgeshire to withdraw his amendment.
In reply to the hon. Member for South-West Hertfordshire, the answer is yes.