Motion to Council: FOBTs

A motion was submitted to full council on 23rd January by Rishton Cllr Ken Moss regarding Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (or FOBTs). Debates are currently being held in Westminster headed by Hyndburn MP Graham Jones calling for greater regulation on these betting machines, which have been dubbed 'the crack cocaine of gambling' by critics.

An early day motion put forward by the Labour party to the House of Commons in January 2014 was blocked by the Conservatives. The coalition government wants to wait for research by the Responsible Gambling Trust before taking action but the research is looking into the details of FOBT gambling, not the effects on the players and why they are causing problems.

A fixed odds betting terminal can normally be found in betting shops in the United Kingdom that allows players to bet on the outcome of various games and events with fixed odds. They were introduced to UK shops in 2001 and the most commonly played game is roulette.

The minimum amount wagered per spin is £1. The maximum bet cannot exceed a payout of £500 (i.e. putting £14.00 on a single number on roulette). The largest single payout cannot exceed £500. Other games include bingo, simulated horseracing and greyhound racing, and a range of slot machine games. Like all casino games, the "house" (i.e. the casino) has a built-in advantage, with current margins on roulette games being theoretically between 2.7% and 5%.

FOBTs are used for money laundering by paying cash into the terminal, making low-risk bets which involve a small relative loss, and withdrawing most of the proceeds as a voucher which is exchanged for cash at the shop counter. This has been acknowledged by the Gambling Commission, which fined Gala Coral Group £90,000 for allowing a drug dealer to launder money through their betting shops.

MPs took part in a debate on fixed-odds betting terminals in Lancashire, led by Graham Jones, the Labour MP for Hyndburn on 22nd January 2014 in Westminster Hall. Mr Jones described how fixed-odds betting machines could take "up to £100 in cash every 20 seconds" and were effectively "mini-casinos". He said that in his constituency £1.8m had been lost on these machines in 2012 from just 13 betting shops.

Graham explained in the debate about the case of Blackburn resident Michael Waring who became obsessed within weeks and rapidly lost control of his life. This was covered in an article in the LT on 18th February 2013 and can be read here:

Lancashire Telegraph - Gambling_machines_took_my_dignity

Hyndburn resident Russell Whalley, a director of former Rishton company E W Cartons, has also been covered in an LT story on gambling addiction:

Lancashire Telegraph - I lost £200k gambling

Offers in Lancashire include £20 free credit, 2CVs Polling held a survey showing that 62% of players gambled until all their money is gone and a secondary British Gambling Prevalence Survey showed it to be definitely the most additive form of gambling.

Hyndburn opposition Councillors Peter Britcliffe and Brian Roberts accused the Labour party of hypocrisy, stating that the FOBT machines are nothing new and that it is the fault of the previous government for being too lax with betting laws.

Cllr Moss stated, "This motion is not an attempt to have a go at the Tories or to start a political argument and I find all this 'previous administration' nonsense to be a pretty flimsy way of debating. If you want to go down that route then we could say that the Conservative-led coalition has had four years to tighten up betting laws but it doesn't help the situation one bit."

He added, "The payouts are not the issue, they are broadly the same as every other form of betting, but the amount that can be spent in such a short time on these particular machines is alarming. The local Tories accuse us of doing nothing in ten years but it is quite common for things to be addressed when they become a problem and I haven't noticed anything coming from their side of the benches either. Betting has changed in Great Britain and changed rapidly with the rise of online poker and other such means of gambling. We now need changes to the law to give more powers to local Councils to deal with betting shop applications."

Rishton Councillor Clare Cleary seconded the motion and said, "This is not just a monetary issue, the Council's hands are tied by gambling laws. We can bicker about who is to blame but the fact is that the proliferation of betting outlets is damaging our country."

The motion can be found in full here:

Full Council 23rd January 2014 - Motion to Council

BBC video of the debate featuring Graham Jones can be found here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/house-of-commons-25842177