Whether the amount of associated investment from the public purse required to establish a super-casino project is taken into account in deciding whether to approve such a project.

The Gambling Act 2005 allows for one regional casino, which will require a licence from the Gambling Commission and the local authority. It will be for the regional and local planning bodies to address the question of infrastructure provision and any associated costs.

The Minister will know that, on the continent, casino operators contribute massively towards regeneration, in both capital and revenue. Here, the taxpayer is helping to assist the casinos into operation. Does the Minister know how much money the regional development agencies are proposing to spend on assisting the casino developments to become established?

As the hon. Gentleman will know, we have in prospect proposals for one regional casino, eight large casinos and eight small casinos. The location of these casinos is being considered by the independent panel that I established, which will report later next year. One of the issues that it will consider will be the cost of provision, but ultimately it will be for local authorities to decide what, if any, conditions they wish to set on the development of a casino to offset the infrastructure costs to which the hon. Gentleman refers.

The Government are already making a very welcome investment in our local community to regenerate the areas that so badly need regeneration. Will my right hon. Friend liaise with her ministerial colleagues to ensure that any public money, including funding for skills retraining, is linked into the private investment from the casino developers to ensure that there is genuine regeneration in the area in which the new regional casino is to be built?

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The impact on regeneration—of which improving skills levels and employability is a key part—will be one of the issues to be considered by the independent panel that will frame its recommendation on location.

Given that the decision on the location of the one super-casino has been delegated to the independent panel, does the Secretary of State think it right and proper to have held ministerial meetings with Philip Anschutz and other members of the Anschutz Entertainment Group to discuss their plans for such a casino at the millennium dome as part of their redevelopment of the site? Will all other super-casino operators be given similar high-level access, and, if so, why?

I am interested in the hon. Gentleman's question. I am not aware of any ministerial meetings as such having been held. I attended a dinner at which Philip Anschutz was a guest. He certainly talked to me about casinos, but got absolutely no information that was not freely available in the newspapers.

What plans, if any, does the Secretary of State have for super-casinos in Scotland? What negotiations have taken place with the Scottish Executive, and what emphasis will be placed on local authorities and communities' criteria regarding increased employment and regeneration?

As my right hon. Friend will be aware, the independent panel is considering the location of the single regional casino, and I have made it absolutely clear that Ministers have no intention of initiating any proposals for further regional casinos. That being the case, no discussions have been entered into about regional casinos specifically with the Scottish Executive since the Bill's passage. There were certainly discussions with Scottish Ministers as was appropriate before that, but not subsequently.