Clause 9
Finance Bill
1:30 pm
John Healey (Financial Secretary, HM Treasury; Wentworth, Labour)
My hon. Friend may be aware that there is a system of regular review of stakes and prizes for gaming machines. It is conducted under the auspices of the DCMS, which has policy responsibility for the area. A review has been conducted and completed, and a recommendation was made to raise the stake to 50p and the prize to £35 for this category of machines, which is one of the most popular types of machine at many venues.
The DCMS, in part because it was considering the implications of changes in social regulation through the Gambling Act 2005, did not implement the stakes and prizes review recommendations. Finally, the Minister for Sport made the decision last autumn that, in fact, we would make that change. That was a decision for the DCMS. It set the new prize and stake levels. What we are doing in this tax legislation is simply bringing the tax category and tax treatment in line with the changes that have already been made in social regulation. I hope that that helps the hon. Gentleman.
Lastly, if the hon. Member for Wycombe really wants me to, I will track down the details of the debate that he asked about. I am just a little surprised, because normally his researchers are very good at such matters.