Govt: Make gambling companies pay for treatment
Bookmakers and other gaming companies will be made to shell out £5 million a year to fund education, research and help for gambling addiction, under new proposals announced today by the government.
The announcement comes as it was revealed many small gambling establishments have failed to pay the voluntary donations to the government’s charity, Responsibility in Gambling Trust (Rigt), set up to combat gambling addiction in 2002.
Andy Burnham, culture secretary, has become angered by the gambling industry as it emerged there is a £1.2 million deficit in donations for 2008/09. He has decided to place a levy on companies to ensure that the charity can continue to help suffers.
Gerry Sutcliff, sports minister, wants the donations to remain voluntary but this may no longer be feasible, he said.
“If the industry can agree the improved voluntary arrangements in the meantime the door is not closed, but time has almost run out.”
RIGT chairman John Greenway welcomed the government’s ultimatum, saying: “This will provide much-needed clarity to the gambling industry as to what it faces under a statutory system.”
Eighty per cent of donations to the charity come from just 30 major companies, which account for 95 per cent of the total gambling turnover.
Don Foster, Liberal Democrat sports spokesman, has declared the delay in help for gambling addiction a national disgrace.
He says: “Ministers have repeatedly turned a blind eye to the problems their reforms have caused while continuing their hell-bent pursuit of the gambling tax bonanza.
“Today’s announcement is only a small step forward. We now need the government to recognise that gambling addiction is a health problem and ensure all local health authorities develop strategies to deal with it.”
On course bookmakers will be exempt from the levy whilst bookmakers with one shop will have to give £180 to £300 a year. Large national gambling companies will have to contribute a six figure sum to the charity.
Russ Phillips, chief executive of the Association of British Bookmakers has reacted angrily to the new proposals.
“We are being singled out for some sort of special treatment,” he said.
“We must not assume that gambling outlets have special privileges protecting them from the credit crunch. The whole industry has been hit and we have to be realistic about how much can be raised.”
This additional expense for gambling companies, especially the smaller ones, could be passed onto consumers
There are between 250,000 and 300,000 problem gamblers in Britain, and a further 1.25 million “at risk”, according to the gambling commision.
