Mr Richard Page (South West Hertfordshire, Conservative)

Will the Minister expand on what this clause involves? Greyhound track operators have expressed their concern about how the pool betting operating licence will impact on what they already do. As the Minister knows, every greyhound track holds an exclusive right to offer pool betting on racing at the track. Pool bets on greyhound racing must be struck on course, although it is legal for two or more courses to co-mingle the pool. A punter is allowed to bet from a stadium into pools at another stadium—a form of betting known as inter-track.

For the past two to three years, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Customs and Excise have given greyhound racing permission to trial online, and therefore off course, betting into on-course pools, on the condition that the relevant rate of duty is paid on punters' stakes before that money is passed to the on-course pools. It has been indicated that as part of the changes to the gaming regulations during the reform of the gambling law, greyhound tracks will be officially able to accept bets into their pools from off-course punters. In doing so, however, do we not encounter the problem whereby the right to run off-course pools on greyhound races should therefore be available to anyone with the relevant operators licence?

That situation will expand the whole operation, and greyhound operators are worried because pool betting revenues are responsible for the major proportion of any stadium's income. Although the promoters welcome the opportunity to take bets from off-course, the benefits and much more will be lost if the change is accompanied by the opening up of the right to accept greyhound pool bets. The individual managers to whom I have spoken cannot see how the Tote can be protected with an exclusive seven-year licence following its sale to a horse racing trust, yet greyhound racing pools can be exposed to a market without any time to establish themselves in relation to any off-course to on-course operations.

The Committee can see that the threat from any future competition would be sufficient to encourage promoters, prior to any introduction of that competition, to re-evaluate their deductions from the pool in relation to a strong and loyal customer base. It is necessary for survival. The situation is quite clear: as I understand it, there is not enough time to allow the   greyhound pools to establish themselves against any immediate competition that opens up this whole area and damages greyhound racing.

Mr Richard Caborn (Minister of State (Sport and Tourism), Department for Culture, Media & Sport; Sheffield Central, Labour)

As the hon. Gentleman said, we are allowing the Tote at greyhound races to accept off-course betting. We ought to reflect on what he has said, however, and even though I request that the clause stand part of the Bill, I can assure him that we will answer his questions fully and, if necessary, table amendments. He has made several points that are worthy of further evaluation, and I would like to reflect on them and come back to him at a later stage.

Mr Richard Page (South West Hertfordshire, Conservative)

I thank the Minister for his immediate grasp of that potentially worrying situation, and I look forward to what will be an even longer Report stage than we thought originally.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 88 ordered to stand part of the Bill.