Clause 81 - Equipment
Gambling Bill
5:00 pm
Mr Richard Caborn (Minister of State (Sport and Tourism), Department for Culture, Media & Sport; Sheffield Central, Labour)
No, we have not gone that far.
We have no desire to limit the number of player positions used for MCB. We have already ensured that MCB has been taken out of the scope of the controls on gaming machines. We have every sympathy with the hon. Gentleman's arguments, which no doubt reflect the views of the Bingo Association.
The amendment is not drafted in quite the way we would like, however. In particular, the references to machines could cause confusion between this clause and the controls in part 10. We also need to take care in defining the sort of equipment involved. The current wording might be a little too broad. If the hon. Gentleman is content to withdraw the amendment, I will consider the matter further, and see what can be done to give some reassurance about equipment used in bingo halls to play interval bingo games such as MCB.