Clause 5 - Pre-sale issue of shares, &c. to government Amendment proposed [this day]: No. 33, in clause 5, page 4, line 3, leave out from 'without' to end of line 3 and insert
Horserace Betting and Olympic Lottery Bill
2:30 pm
Mr Richard Caborn (Minister of State (Sport and Tourism), Department for Culture, Media & Sport; Sheffield Central, Labour)
I have had an interesting lunchtime. I have just met representatives of the racing industry, to discuss not the Tote or the lottery but another issue that is exercising their minds: the Office of Fair Trading. Representatives of the British Horseracing Board were there, as were race course owners, the Racecourse Association, the Jockey Club and members of the Trade and Industry Committee. I took the opportunity to reflect on this morning's proceedings, and was reassured that there would be a racing trust and that there would be no falling out within the industry. I hope that that reassures the Committee.
Amendment No. 33 seeks to give Parliament a role in the further approval of the sale of the Tote, and amendment No. 5 offers an alternative drafting to the same end. The legislation is drafted to give the Secretary of State discretion over when and to whom the Tote is sold. We are asking Parliament to accept the Bill on that basis. In the unlikely event that we are unable to sell the Tote to a racing trust, we would need to consider how to give the racing industry the benefit of the stake that we acknowledge it has in the Tote. How we do that will depend on the circumstances: the Government will discuss with the industry how best to achieve that. I therefore ask for the amendment to be withdrawn.