Bill changes will 'deprive small towns'

This Is Money13 April 2012

SAVAGE cuts to the Gambling Bill will strip deprived communities of £600m of investment and more than 40,000 jobs, Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has warned.

The Government was forced to drop plans for a series of regional 'super-casinos' to get the Bill passed through before Parliament is dissolved for the General Election.

The Government had originally wanted 40 large gambling venues throughout the UK but was forced to bend to House of Lords' demands to reduce that to eight.

It had to back down as the Bill would have missed the deadline and the Government would have had to have started the entire process again once Parliament re-opened after the election.

Now the effects of Las Vegas-style establishments on problem gambling and redevelopment will be trialled in just one location, most likely Blackpool.

Jowell told MPs she was reluctantly accepting the change to ensure that the Bill, which sets tough new rules for the betting industry - and in particular on previously unregulated on-line gambling - went ahead.

The Bill sets up a new Gambling Commission to police the industry and creates a new offence of permitting a child to gamble.

She said: 'It is important for public protection that we secure this Bill. I very much regret that the opposition have made a reduction in the number of casinos in the first stage a condition of their support.

'Local authorities will miss out on potential benefits for regeneration. It means probably the loss of £600m of inward investment in some of the parts of the country where this investment is most needed, and in excess of 40,000 jobs.'

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