According to a recent report from the Director of Public Health in Wirral, local gamblers have spent the mind-blowing amount of approximately £13 million on betting with bookmakers in a year only. The spending trend has been reported to have had a massive impact on the most disadvantaged parts of the metropolitan borough, making them even poorer.
As revealed in the above-mentioned report, local bookmakers have received an overall amount of £12.9 million from Wirral residents in the 2016/2017 year. The Wirral’s Director of Public Health further revealed that harmful gambling was having a massive impact on the poorest parts of the borough, making them even poorer and further warned that the problem was expected to deteriorate even more.
According to the information included in the report, Birkenhead was the worst-affected area, with local betting outlets receiving an overall profit of £24 million over the last five years. The Wallasey area came second, with more than £17 million spent, while Wirral South and Wirral West each saw an amount of approximately £8 million spent in local betting shops. The operators which offer fixed-odds betting machines to Wirral customers got overall profits amounting to £58.5 million over the last five years, with these profits having strongly increased on a year-on-year basis.
A report by Wirral’s Director of Public Health has called for tighter regulatory measures in order to tackle gambling-related harm in the region. According to information included in the report, there appears to be a large number of betting shops in the most disadvantaged areas of the borough. For the time being, each of these betting premises is allowed to have as many as four fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs).
A recent survey has shown that all but three shops in Wirral had the maximum of the highly-controversial machines, with Birkenhead having the largest number of FOBTs in Wirral, followed by Wallasey. Unfortunately, both towns were among some of the most disadvantaged areas in the country, while Birkenhead-located fixed-odds betting machines account for three times as much profit as they do in wealthier areas such as Wirral South.
Gambling Addiction Greatly Affects Disadvantaged Areas
For years, controversial fixed-odds betting terminals have been blamed for the spreading gambling addiction rates across the country, and especially in some economically disadvantaged areas.
As a 2016 report of The Responsible Gambling Trust showed, areas with high-density betting shops clusters saw increased risk levels of problem gambling. Considering the current situation in Wirral, experts have warned that gambling-related harm and compulsive gambling is “disproportionately contributing” to making the poorest areas in Wirral even poorer.
In addition, the latest report issued by Wirral’s Director of Public Health warned that the problems which are currently identified in Wirral could deteriorate in the years to come in case that no further measures are taken by competent authorities. The report also added that compulsive gambling is a major public health concern and should be recognised as such. For some time, gambling has been “normalised” in society, and especially for more vulnerable people and under-aged individuals, but according to experts, this could result in making it more difficult for gambling addicts to admit they have a problem, and respectively, make it more difficult for their friends and family to recognise the issue.
For the time being, Wirral Council is working hand in glove with other councils in the region to urge the Government to bring more changes in the existing gambling legislation in order to make sure people are well-protected from the possible FOBT-related harm. The controversial gambling machines have been recognised as one of the major areas of concern as they are considered highly addictive. A couple of months ago, the Government announced its decision to cut the maximum stake allowed at the machines from £100 to £2, but the process could take longer than initially expected.
- Author
Daniel Williams
