The British Casino Association announces the launch of a campaign to oppose the Government's proposed Gambling Bill as it currently stands in order to achieve a fair deal for existing operators.
The British Casino Association (BCA) believes that the legislation now being considered by the House of Lords lacks coherence and is breathtaking in its discrimination against the interests of a socially responsible and established British industry.
The BCA's chief concern is that Britain's existing casinos will be severely disadvantaged by being restricted from participating in the changed regulatory environment envisaged by the proposed Gambling Bill.
With such an uneven playing field, the BCA is deeply apprehensive about the future for our industry and concerned that the Government's experiment with gaming in Britain could lead to significant job losses and closures within the estates of our members.
Nor would successful applications by our members for the new licences change the reality that they would be competing against their own ham-strung estates. The only operators who will benefit will be new entrants who do not currently own casinos in this country.
Penny Cobham, BCA chairman, said:
"As an industry, we simply cannot fathom why the Government has chosen to experiment with a large increase in the number of gaming machines and the provision of bookmaking services in new casinos while restricting our members and their guests from participating in these profound changes to gambling regulation.
"Our reward for an excellent track record in operating casinos responsibly is the arbitrary limiting of our ability to grow our businesses through deeply inequitable legislation. If the Government is so keen on experimenting with our Gambling Laws, surely we, as the established and reliable companies operating in Britain, rather than new and untested operators from abroad, should be conducting the experiment."
The new Regional casinos being proposed by the Government will be able to offer:
- up to 1,250 machines with unlimited prizes and stakes - bookmaking services - the full range of enhanced services, including bingo
Investment in existing casinos by long-standing British operators will, however, be restricted due to:
- 'prize and stake' limits on gaming machines - the freezing (and in some cases reduction) of machine numbers - an inability to offer bookmaking services for customers - an inability to offer other enhancements such as bingo
The British casino industry - overview
- A total of 136 casinos - Over 12,500 people directly employed - 1.5 million members - 11.5 million admissions per year - GBP200m revenue to the Exchequer - Over GBP2bn invested in the last 10 years - Impeccable regulatory record