To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the finding by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, in a report published by bacta on 10 January, that if the maximum stake of fixed odds betting terminals were reduced from £100 to £2 the reduction in annual Gross Gambling Yield to high street betting shops would be £335 million; and how they reached the conclusion in their consultation on proposals to reduce such stakes that that reduction would be £639 million.
Answered on
30 January 2018
The attached Impact Assessment was published with the consultation on proposals to changes to gaming machines and social responsibility measures on 31 October and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-proposals-for-changes-to-gaming-machines-and-social-responsibility-measures. This sets out the assumptions we made in arriving at our estimates of potential reductions in gross gambling yield in high street betting shops, and acknowledged that the modelling was sensitive to changes in this set of assumptions. The CEBR report provided a range of alternative assumptions to arrive at their estimates. We will consider the CEBR report and other relevant information submitted as part of the consultation before arriving at final decisions and an updated impact assessment will be published with the Government’s response.