FOBT review will not be published until October

The Guardian newspaper reports that Tracey Crouch, the British government minister responsible for the Department for Culture Media and Sport (under which the UK gambling industry falls) has informed parliament that the review findings on the controversial Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) will not be released until “October at the earliest.”

Crouch explained that the DCMS is currently conducting its triennial review of the UK gambling industry, and that the FOBT issue forms part of that project.

Media and political pressure for a reduction in the current GBP 100 maximum stake on the popular machines has been unrelenting over the past two or more years, with some calls for the maximum stake to be reduced to just GBP 2 (see previous reports).

Other proposals are that the number of FOBT’s per betting shop should be reduced, and that marketing restrictions be imposed.

The recent UK general election has contributed to delays on the review, Crouch pointed out, noting that a mandatory 12-week stand-still period following the election requires compliance and had interrupted the process. She maintained that government must “ensure that we have a proper evidence-based response to the issue of stakes and prizes.”

The FOBT issue is a prickly problem in which government will be under public pressure, but will no doubt remain cognisant that the Treasury reaps over GBP 400 million a year in tax revenues from the companies operating these machines.

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