SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
London’s Brent borough has deepened its commitment to curb gambling harm by partnering with the Social Market Foundation (SMF) think tank.
Earlier this year, Brent Council became one of 39 local governments, including Andy Burnham and Greater Manchester, to address DCMS Secretary Lisa Nandy and request urgent reforms to bring more gambling control into the hands of mayors.
More specifically, the calls referred to planning applications, with regional leaders arguing that Adult Gaming Centers are too prevalent in low income areas, and that their placement must be made directly tied to household debt levels – courtesy of local governments.
Muhammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council, then said: “There’s too much on the line to ignore the harms of betting shops on Britain’s high streets, but our hands are effectively tied by a law no longer fit for purpose.”
New strategy
Brent Council is now commissioning the Social Market Foundation to carry out an in-depth review of current rules and regulations, with the goal of putting forward a proposal for changes where applicable.
Butt added: “For too long, the house has always won – with big businesses extracting ever more profit from our high streets, while furthering financial addiction amongst their players.
“Local leaders representing over 12 million people up and down the country agree with Brent that our high streets can do so much better than betting shops and bookmakers.
“Together with SMF we will set out the case for changes which put power back in the hands of communities and break the cycle of this gambling epidemic”.
To further get the point across, the Borough of Brent highlighted the extent of income deprivation in the local area, which ranks as one of the deprived areas in England, with median household incomes falling significantly below the London average of £59,000.
Therefore, it will now work with SMF towards tabling new permit planning proposals for the new Labour government, although it might prove to be a challenging task as the implementation of the Gambling Act 2005 recommendations are already underway.
Regardless, Theo Bertram, Director of the SMF, reiterated that the commitment to exploring the current legal landscape and drafting a plan on how to better protect communities will not falter anytime soon.
He concluded: “The goal of this research and our collaboration with Brent is to measure the real social and economic impact of clusters of Adult Gaming Centres and, where there is evidence of harm, to develop policy recommendations that empower communities to reduce that harm. We are delighted to be working with Brent on this vital topic.”
