The British government has announced that local councils are to be given more powers to decide whether more UK betting shops should open in their individual constituencies. UK public-service broadcaster the BBC said the new measures would enable councils to refuse planning application if they are concerned about the number of shops in their local area. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport explained that local authorities are becoming increasingly concerned about the “clustering” of betting shops in some areas and the new measures would help to counter the situation. However, bookmakers have previously said that the number of shops…

It’s a fashionable and long-held belief that some UK betting shops prey on the poor. High street betting shops spring up in deprived areas, says received wisdom, in order to exploit those already suffering from economic hardship. Leading bookmaking companies – such as William Hill, Ladbrokes and Paddy Power – have always strongly denied this, and a new report seems to bear them out, suggesting that the “poverty exploitation” theory is a myth. The independent report, which was conducted by data analyst the Local Data Company at the behest of the Association of British Bookmakers (ABB), concludes the UK’s poorest…

iGaming Business – Ralph Topping, the chief executive of bookmaker William Hill, has revealed he is opposed to the “clustering” of betting shops in the UK and has called on MPs to take action before the situation starts to “alienate” communities. According to the Daily Mail newspaper, Topping said that he understands why people have objected to new betting shops opening on their local high street and claims to have seen “stark” examples of their direct impact. Topping also suggested handing licensing authorities more power to block such shops sprouting up if the regulators identified a damaging “cumulative impact”. “I’m…

iGaming Business – UK political party the Liberal Democrats have backed a call to hand regional councils the power to limit the number of betting shops that can be opened within their local area. According to the UK public-service broadcaster the BBC, the party, which is the minority member of the coalition government, voted to curb the increase of bookmakers. The report said that Don Foster, local government minister, proposed the motion and will now be able to push for it to become law. The amended motion would allow councils to specify the number of betting shops that would be…