What assessment he has made of the likely effects on urban regeneration of the establishment of new casinos under the Gambling Act 2005.

The independent Casino Advisory Panel was asked to choose a range of areas in need of economic development and regeneration. An assessment of the economic and social impact of the 16 large and small casinos will be carried out three years after the first of the new casinos has begun trading. We expect that the assessment will be completed by 2014.

I should declare an interest in that I gamble and have lost money on many different bets in several different countries, and very occasionally I have won a little bit as well.

Notwithstanding that answer, most people in Britain remain to be convinced of any benefit that building a casino in a disadvantaged area would bring to regeneration. Will the Minister tell me what on earth a Labour Government are doing encouraging gambling, unless it is because of lobbying by companies that make their money out of other people, who may ill be able to afford it, losing money?

I wonder whether one of those bets that the hon. Gentleman placed was on the last Tory party leadership.

It was, actually. The Minister is quite right.

Did the hon. Gentleman win or lose?

I won.

It should be stressed that the casino policy was pursued at the request of local government. The Budd report on gambling was published in 2000, and it was felt that existing legislation affecting casinos should be updated. The policy is well travelled in the House, and I think that it enjoys the support of all parties in the House.

The Minister will be only too aware of the crisis affecting our seaside resorts and their urgent need for redevelopment funds. Although he was not in his present post at the time of the Gambling Act, can he explain why his party was wrong-headed enough not to follow the example of, for instance, France, which deliberately gave casino licences to its seaside and other resorts in order to improve their attraction to visitors?

I am sure that the hon. Lady will welcome the £45 million that is being invested in seaside towns as we try to find a way of regenerating our coastal resorts. As I have said, the gambling policy relating to casinos is well travelled. We asked the independent Casino Advisory Panel to examine the options available to us, and it came up with the idea of 16 casinos as well as a large regional casino. We are not proceeding with the large regional casino, but we are going ahead with the other 16.

Although there is extensive evidence of the potential economic and social damage caused by regional casinos and no such evidence relating to their poorer cousin the bingo hall, some bingo halls are teetering on the brink of closure, not least because of double taxation. Does the Minister share my hope that the Budget statement will contain an announcement that bingo will be put on the same basis as other similar activities, so that bingo halls can survive and continue to provide the considerable social benefits that they provide in many towns throughout the nation?

The plight of bingo halls is an important issue in all our constituencies, but, as my hon. Friend knows, taxation is a matter for the Chancellor and the Treasury. We look forward to hearing what is said in Wednesday's Budget statement. As my hon. Friend will also know, the DCMS and other Departments have been working with the Bingo Association to establish what else can be done to support the bingo community.

As my hon. Friend Mr. Robathan said in his declaration of an interest, our perspective on gambling is that it should be treated as a form of entertainment in which one is likely to lose rather than as a form of investment in which one thinks one might win. However, we also think that there should be the right level of legislation, whether it applies to a casino, a bingo hall or an arcade. As has just been illustrated, bingo has been hit heavily by the Gambling Act, as indeed have arcades. Is it not time to support early-day motion 840 and support our arcades, and also to review the use of category B3 machines? We need to stop bingo halls and arcades from closing, thus driving people from a soft to a hard form of gambling in the name of fixed-odds betting terminals.

I think that the hon. Gentleman should be cautious about using the FOBTs argument. As he will know, I have asked the Gambling Commission to consider the impact of high-stake machines and prizes on gambling. I agree that we do not want to do anything that will make problem gambling any worse.

We are looking at bingo halls and amusement arcades, both the "soft" children's sections of arcades and the adult game incentives. We need to get the balance right. We have received representations from the British Amusement Catering Trade Association, to which I shall respond shortly.