Clause 61 - Nature of licence
Gambling Bill
4:00 pm
Mr Don Foster (Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport, Culture, Media & Sport; Bath, Liberal Democrat)
I beg to move amendment No. 5, in clause 61, page 25, line 26, leave out third 'A' and insert 'B'.
The amendment is very simple. It is one of a string of amendments and its argument is that, as we have no research evidence to convince us that category A machines will either provide enormous regenerative benefits or lead to a significant increase in gambling problems, we do not bother to introduce them into the country.
In earlier exchanges, particularly our rather abortive discussion about clause 7 and the proliferation of regional casinos, the Minister gave a clear assurance that he would table amendments that would stop a proliferation in the pilot period. I assume that we will receive confirmation before too long, but we understand that there will be a limit of only eight regional casinos. During the discussions, I asked the Minister whether he would put a similar cap on the proportion of category A machines in the regional casinos.
Bearing in mind that the Government have already said that the industry has advised them that only 10 per cent. of category A machines are likely to be in a regional casino out of a maximum of 1,250, it is not unreasonable to ask the Minister to put a cap of 10 per cent. on them. I would prefer none at all, but given that I have not received an assurance about a proposed cap, I ask the Committee to listen to the hon. Member for North-East Cambridgeshire.