The Stage

Scrutiny report criticises city casino policy

Published Friday 23 July 2004 at 12:50 by Ruth Gillespie

The powerful parliamentary committee tasked with scrutinising the draft gambling bill has criticised the government for failing to ensure that areas like Blackpool have priority over city centres as sites for large-scale casino and entertainment complexes.

Blackpool’s hopes of launching its £1 billion initiative to turn the seaside town into Britain’s premier gambling and showbusiness resort hinge on the government restricting ‘regional’ or ‘resort’ casinos to areas of low population.

With numerous proposals for casino complexes already underway, the ailing seaside town appears to have been left behind by investors as international operators, such as MGM Mirage and Kerzner International, concentrate their efforts on urban centres like Manchester and Glasgow.

However, in a final report published this week, the Joint Scrutiny Committee said it had “grave concerns” about locating regional casinos in areas close to where people live and work and warned that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s desire to safeguard against problem gambling had been compromised by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister’s planning policy, which favours building large casino developments in town and city centres.

Chairman John Greenway said: “The committee received professional evidence recommending that town centres, where large numbers of people live and work, are not appropriate locations for regional casinos. It is regrettable at this late stage of the debate that such a policy exists and we urge both departments to work together to resolve this issues as soon as possible.”

The report also recommended that the number of regional or ‘destination’ casinos should be cut from 40-45, as previously suggested, to 20-25 and that the minimum non-gambling areas in each venue should be increased to accommodate more leisure, sports, arts and cultural facilities.

Greenway added: “While the outstanding issues must be addressed, they do not justify any delay in introducing the new legislation. We urge the government to introduce a bill to parliament at the earliest opportunity.”