Problem Gambling

At Monday evening's Policy and Resources Committee I was pleased to see the Administration respond to my demand for action on problem gambling.  I believe that there is a need to revisit the current legislation to ensure that effective action can be taken over this issue. In recent years there has been a proliferation of bookies shops on our High Streets and an ever increasing number of events which can be gambled on.  We saw this recently in a bookmaker's sick advertisement about betting around the issue of the sad death of a young women in South Africa.

I am not opposed to people having a flutter on the horses but it is clear that for many people gambling becomes a much greater problem than that.

We need greater regulation of betting shops and to allow councils to refuse permission for betting shops either through licensing or the planning process on the grounds of over provision.

It is clear that the phenomenon of online gambling and gambling on mobile devices needs to be more regulated

I was pleased to hear that the Council will be looking to see how it can assist some of our own employees who have gambling problems. I think that it is important that the council takes a lead in the city and shows other employers how they should behave.

We should be clear that in many instances problem gambling allows big businesses to profit from the misery of others and especially the misery of the families of those with a gambling problem.