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APPG announces new inquiry session

The FOBT APPG will be holding an inquiry session on Tuesday 17th July from 9am-11am, as part of the current Inquiry into the Government’s Implementation of a £2 stake on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals.

In the first part of the session, the APPG will be hearing about the impact of a delayed implementation of the £2 stake on local communities and also from those whose lives and families have been harmed by FOBTs. Witnesses will be:

Impact on Communities

  • Councillor Anita Lower, Local Government Association
  • Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz, Newham Borough Council

Impact on people and families

  • Josephine Holloway
  • Liz Ritchie
  • Terry White

APPG publishes most recent Income and Expenditure Statement

Following the All Party Parliamentary Group’s Annual General Meeting the APPG has now published its Income and Expenditure Statement.

The full statement is available here.

FOBT APPG Annual General Meeting Press Release

FOBT APPG launches new inquiry to urge Government to immediately implement £2 stake.

Today (19 June) marks 603 days since the Government launched its call for evidence on the maximum stake on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals. Since that time, over £3 billion pounds have been lost on these machines, mostly by those least able to afford it, as shown on the FOBT loss tracker on the Group’s website.

To mark this milestone in the campaign, the FOBT APPG held its AGM in Portcullis House today, where Carolyn Harris MP was re-elected as Chair of the Group and Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP, Ronnie Cowan MP and Lord Chadlington were also elected as Vice-Chairs of the Group.

During the meeting, the MPs welcomed the Government’s decision last month, to reduce the stake on FOBTs from £100 to £2. However, they also raised their concern about the delayed implementation and have called for the implementation of the reduced stake to be no later than 6 April 2018. The Group also announced that they will be holding a short and urgent inquiry looking into the need for implementation of the revised stake as soon as possible.

The Group will hear from key stakeholders and will produce a report which will be submitted to the Government ahead of the Budget in the Autumn.

Carolyn Harris MP said:

“I am delighted to have been re-elected Chair of the FOBT APPG. This is an issue that is close to my heart and one I am extremely passionate about to see through until the £2 stake is implemented.  Along with my colleagues on the group, I was dismayed to hear the Treasury are looking to delay the stake reduction by 2 years. This is unacceptable. By then the industry would have made £4 billion off the back of the most vulnerable in our society. The APPG will continue campaigning ferociously to see that we protect those who most need our help as parliamentarians.”

Further information on the All Party Group can be found at www.fobt-appg.com

Notes to Editors

  1. The Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBT) All Party Parliamentary Group has been created to provide a forum for discussion and further investigation into the impact of FOBTs in our communities. This group, powered by the passion of the members in both houses of Parliament on this issue, allows a coordinated effort among politicians of all political parties, to come together to discuss how best to address the issues that FOBTs are causing to our communities.
  1. For more information, please contact Carolyn Harris MP, the Chair of the Fixed Odds Betting Terminals All Party Parliamentary Group or the secretariat for the Group: Tosin Adedayo tosin.adedayo@interelgroup.com T: 020 7592 3825
  1. The newly elected members of the Group are:
  • Carolyn Harris MP – Chair
  • Sir Peter Bottomley MP – Vice Chair
  • Lord Chadlington – Vice Chair
  • Ronnie Cowan MP – Vice Chair
  • Iain Duncan Smith MP – Vice Chair
  • Liz McInnes MP – Vice Chair
  • Graham Jones MP – Vice Chair
  • Stephen Timms MP – Vice Chair
  • Gerald Jones MP – Treasurer
  • Stuart McDonald MP – Secretary

APPG Statement as FOBT losses pass £3billion

Today marks £3billion having now been lost on FOBTs since DCMS launched its consultation on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals over 600 days ago.

We call on the Government to immediately make good on its promise from the 17th May and make a £2 stake a reality.

£2 is the only stake level to be supported by the Church of England, 93 local councils and the Royal Society for Public Health as well as the three largest political parties in Westminster, the Conservatives, Labour and the Scottish National Party.

Any further delay in the implementation of a £2 stake is a clear abandonment of those people who are most affected by these machines, the same people who Theresa May’s Government have promised to protect under her premiership, be they problem gamblers or their local communities who are just about managing to survive the financial drain of FOBTs.

Annual General Meeting – 19th June

The Fixed Odds Betting Terminals All Party Parliamentary Group will be holding an Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 19th June from 11:30pm to 12:30pm in Committee room R of Portcullis House.

The group will consider the next steps of the campaign for a £2 stake on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals to ensure the Government implements this change as soon as possible.

Whilst the meeting will start in private, guests are welcome to attend the public section of this AGM.

Please RSVP with the APPG’s Secretariat tosin.adedayo@interelgroup.com to confirm your attendance.

Statement following DCMS announcement of £2 stake

Clarification of Gambling Commission Advice on FOBT Stakes

Carolyn Harris MP and Ian Duncan Smith MP have written on behalf of the Fixed Odds Betting Terminals APPG to Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to raise a number of points that emerged from a meeting between the APPG and Gambling Commission.

In particular the FOBT APPG wishes to highlight that the Gambling Commission have confirmed that their advice to the department recommended that the stake on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals be reduced to £30 or less and that they in no way oppose a £2 stake on FOBTs, despite misleading claims in the media.