Gambling centres ‘clustered’ in deprived areas of the UK

Half of the UK’s adult gaming centres are situated in its most disadvantaged neighbourhoods, BBC research suggests.

Open for up to 24 hours a day, the centres (AGCs) host automated gaming machines that can pay jackpots worth hundreds of pounds. Gambling Commission data shows 664 of about 1,400 such premises are in the top 20% of deprived areas.

Anna Hargrave, CEO of charity Gamble Aware, said the clustering of AGCs was “concerning” and those living in disadvantaged communities were twice as likely to experience gambling harm.

Trade association BACTA, which represents the gambling industry, said while operators did not target these areas, they did “invest in high streets that need regeneration”.

Earlier this year, council leaders petitioned government for reforms to the “aim to permit” duty of the Gambling Act 2005, which requires councils to approve gambling licences wherever minimum criteria are met, regardless of opposition.

Campaigners believe the policy restricts local authorities from preventing the growth of AGCs.

Kings Lynn councillor Deborah Heneghan said there were four such businesses in her small ward.

Accusing the gaming industry of targeting deprived areas, she said the venues were having a profound impact on communities and altering the “look, feel and tone” of high streets across the country.

A Gambling Commission spokesman said the granting of premises licences was the remit of local licensing authorities.

He said “when parliamentary time allows”, the government would introduce powers to enable those authorities to conduct cumulative impact assessments.

The new measures will allow local authorities to determine whether the cumulative impact of the number or density of gambling premises undermines licensing objectives.

Recovering gambling addict Charlie Barker said easy access to multiple AGCs had had a significant impact on his life.

The 33-year-old said there had been “five or six” gaming venues on his doorstep when he lived in a flat above a town square.

The proximity had made it difficult for him to break away when he realised he had become a “problematic gambler”, he said.

Mr Barker, who lost most of an inheritance and his home as a result of his addiction, said the toll on his mental health had been enormous.

He added: “Even when I was getting wins, I wasn’t walking away with them.

“Gambling is glamorised and the ongoing cycle of promotion and shops opening everywhere needs to stop.”

The Local Government Association said councils needed “flexible powers” and the ability to refuse applications for gambling premises near schools, health services and other “sensitive locations”.

However, Allastar Gair, communications director at BACTA, said local authorities already had the power to refuse applications where they believed licensing objectives would be undermined.

He said the sector was “tightly regulated” and continuing to raise standards through “strengthened systems, better training and visible safer gambling measures”.

Mr Gair added: “A new AGC does not open without a full licensing process, council oversight and a detailed risk assessment.

“Operators do not target deprived areas; they take on long term empty units and invest in high streets that need regeneration.”

A spokesman from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said the government was committed to giving councils the power to limit gambling shops.

He added: “We’ll do everything we can to halt the decline people are seeing in their towns and high streets.”