Clause 15 - Betting and gaming
Gambling Bill
3:45 pm
Mr Malcolm Moss (Shadow Minister, Home Affairs; North East Cambridgeshire, Conservative)
Under the heading of ''Betting and gaming'', I want to raise several points on a broader footing that have been put to me by the Association of British Bookmakers. There is a number of products on offer in betting offices in addition to sports betting, and I have three examples. First, ''The 49s'' is a fixed-odds betting product that offers customers the ability to bet on a televised numbers draw. Secondly, ''Rapido'' involves customers in making a selection from 80 numbers at fixed odds. Winning numbers are generated by a random number generator and displayed in the shop on a television screen. Thirdly, the Irish lottery involves bookmakers offering fixed odds on the outcome of the Irish and other foreign lotteries. I am told that those products are extremely popular and generate significant betting revenue. Turnover is estimated at £300 million-plus per annum.
Under the present law, those are clearly defined as betting products. However, clause 15 does not make it
clear whether that status is to be retained. It would be helpful if the Minister confirmed that it is not the Government's intention to change the categorisation of those products that appear in betting shops. It would also be helpful if we had some steer on that, either in clause stand part or at a future date when he has had a chance to consider the individual nature of those machines.