UK PM urged to lift limitation on prevention of high street gambling shops

United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been urged to abolish a law which limits the capability of communities to prevent bookmakers and 24-hour slot machine stops from opening up on high streets. 

This call for the rule to be abolished comes from a letter sent to the Prime Minister which saw nearly 300 politicians and campaigners argue for an end to the “aim to permit” policy, which had been introduced in 2005 under a government led by the at-the-time Prime Minister Tony Blair.

As it stands, the rule places a legal obligation on licensing authorities, be that councils or the Gambling Commission, to be more inclined towards allowing new gambling premises. 

Labour MP Dawn Butler, who coordinated the letter sent to the Prime Minister, commented that the UK’s high streets are “being hollowed out by a surge of betting shops and 24/7 slot machine venues,” as she further remarked that “local people are left powerless”. She continued that the “aim to permit” policy has left councils powerless to refuse licence applications, even in the face of local opposition.

The UK Government has previously stated that it would give councils more powers to block applications by allowing them to take “cumulative impact assessments” into consideration, namely by looking at the number of betting and gaming shops already present within an area. Starmer has stated in response to parliamentary questions prompted by Butler that local authorities would be given additional powers to control the extent of high street gambling shops.

280 signatories, including 46 MPs and 216 councillors

Signatories of the letter sent to Prime Minister Starmer, including Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, have welcomed the commitment to cumulative impact assessments, but have still expressed concerns that such promised measures are not enough.

Among the signatories, of which there were 280 people, there are 46 MPs included, as well as 6 members of the House of Lords, 216 councillors, along with campaigners for regulatory gambling reform.

The letter indicates that this call for change is aimed at supporting vulnerable residents and ensuring that councils have the tools to act in the interests of their communities, commenting that it is not a call “about banning the occasional bet”.

The signatories further urged Starmer to meet a delegation in order to discuss the rule’s abolishment, which has been described as a fundamental aspect of British gambling regulation since the year 2007, which is when the Gambling Act of 2005 came into full force.

Prior to this, companies which wanted to open a betting shop or gaming centre had to show that they would be serving a demand which was not being met.

The campaigners argued that the UK government now has a “historic opportunity to put people before profit” with a focus on delivering a “fairer, safer approach to gambling”.

Betting shops support 46,000 jobs and contribute nearly £1 billion in direct tax yearly

A spokesperson for the Betting and Gaming Council said that betting shops alone support 46,000 jobs and contribute nearly £1 billion yearly in direct tax to the Treasury, as well as a further £60 million in business rates to local councils. They added that research by ESA Retail shows that 89% of betting shop customers also visit other local businesses when going to bookmakers, which in turn provides a boost to those other businesses.

With that said, the campaigners noted that the number of betting shops since 2019 has fallen by 29%, with over 2,300 closures within five years, which in turn has resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs, as well as millions in tax revenue.

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