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UK government accepts casino panel recommendation

UNITED KINGDOM – (PRESS RELEASE) -- The Government is to accept all the recommendations of the independent Casino Advisory Panel on the location of 17 new casinos - including the one regional casino in Manchester - Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell confirmed today.

Ms Jowell will formally lay a single draft order today, as the first stage in the process to ask Parliament to approve the panel's recommendations. The order confirms the seventeen local authorities who would be permitted to issue premises licences for the three types of new casino ( regional, large and small ) permitted by the Gambling Act 2005.

The draft order will be debated by both Houses of Parliament. Parliament may only approve or reject the order, it may not amend it.

In the House of Commons, as indicated by Tessa Jowell on the day the panel published its report, the debate will be on the floor of the House. In addition, the Secretary of State today announced that the debate will be for three hours, double the length normally allowed for affirmative order debates.

Ms Jowell said:

"As the Gambling Act makes clear, it is for Parliament to make the final decision about the locations of the new casinos. After careful consideration, I have decided to put to Parliament the recommendations of the independent Casino Advisory Panel. I am grateful to Professor Crow and his colleagues for their very thorough analysis of the issues and for producing their final report with real rigour and integrity.

"The Order will now be debated and voted on by both Houses of Parliament. Given the exceptional level of interest in the issues, and the importance of Parliament being able to properly consider the matter, the debate in the Commons will be an extended one and will take place on the floor of the House itself.

"Many people in this country like to gamble, and it is right that they are properly protected. This is not Las Vegas coming to Britain. The Gambling Act brings in tough new controls on gambling, and puts an obligation for social responsibility at the heart of the operation of the new casinos. The key reason to limit the number of new casinos is to measure carefully their social impact as well as their regeneration potential."

The areas put before Parliament in the order are:

Regional casino: Manchester

Large casino: Great Yarmouth, Kingston-upon-Hull, Leeds, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Newham, Solihull and Southampton

Small casino: Bath and North East Somerset, Wigtown licensing area in Dumfries and Galloway, East Lindsey, Luton, Scarborough, Swansea, Torbay and Wolverhampton.

The Gambling Act 2005 responded to increasing levels of gambling, and the development of new technology, to put in place a tough regulatory regime fit for the 21st century.

The Government will monitor carefully the social and the economic impact of the new casinos.

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