Kevin Stewart, a member of the Aberdeen Central Scottish National Party (SNP) who in 2015 occupied the role of Convenor of the local government and regeneration committee of Holyrood, has called the UK Government to slash the maximum bet allowed on notorious fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) to £2.
At the time he took part in a Scottish Parliament event Mr. Stewart explained that the latest recommendation made by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) for lowering the maximum stake to £30 was absurd and revealed he backed the proposed £2 stake. The event SNP member participated in cooperation with the Westminster All Party Parliamentary Group and was focused especially on the controversial machines which have long been blamed for the increased problem gambling rates in the country.
At the time when Kevin Stewart headed the Holyrood’s local government and regeneration committee, the latter called for the Government to fully suspend local high-street bookmakers from offering fixed-odds betting terminals. The machines have been blamed for the increased number of problem gamblers who also generate bigger losses, and have raised discussions at different levels in the UK.
As SNP member explained, an amount of £9 million had been lost on FOBTs in Aberdeen alone in 2016, and some players had faced the detrimental impact of gambling on their lives after generating massive financial losses. According to Mr. Stewart, the machines affected some of the most financially-vulnerable individuals in the local communities, which was exactly why the FOBTs needed to be fully banned. Still, Mr. Stewart explained that in case that the Government did not suspend them, competent authorities should make sure that fixed-odds betting terminals feature maximum stakes which were as low as possible.
FOBTs Stake Reduction Could Hurt Bookmakers
About a fortnight ago, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) issued a recommendation paper for the maximum stakes allowed at the FOBTs. The regulatory body of the UK gambling industry recommend the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to reduce the stakes of casino-style electronic games to a maximum of £30. Currently, the fixed-odds betting machines offer players to place a maximum amount of £100 every 20 second.
The recommendation of the UK Gambling Commission gave some hope to gambling operators which had previously shared their concern with the possible effects which the expected crackdown on the country’s gambling industry could have on their performance on the market. Of course, the proposed maximum stake of £30 was not taken as a good news by local bookmakers, but still, it is much better in comparison to the £2 maximum limit which has also been considered.
Gambling operators have insisted that any reduction in the maximum stake allowed at the FOBTs would have negative impact on their performance. For some time now, the machines have been the major revenue-generating service for high-street bookmakers, with them having brought about £1.17 billion to the industry in the 2016 fiscal year.
- Author
Daniel Williams
