Supplier News
UK – British Bookmakers partner with Local Government Association
By Phil - 23 January 2015
The Association of British Bookmakers (ABB) is partnering with the Local Government Association (LGA) to make sure that local councils’ concerns over gambling are taking on board.
The associations want to help local councils air their concerns but at the same time reassure the industry that it should be present on UK high streets.
The ABB recently created Southall Betwatch in Ealing to address problems connected to betting shops in the area. Since its inception crime has fallen within gambling premises by 50 per cent.
ABB chairman Paul Darling QC said: “We are pleased to have worked with the LGA through the Betting Commission, and to be able to have discussed issues of concern to all of us in detail. We all look forward through this partnership agreement to building on the successes of different projects betting shop operators and councils are already doing, and discussing concerns in an open and transparent way.”
Councillor Tony Page, LGA licensing spokesman, added: “Councils are not anti-bookies but many have concerns around the proliferation of shops on their high streets.The Betting Commission was the first time that councillors and betting shops firms had sat down to discuss the concerns around betting shops and to try and find a solution. It showed that while we might not agree on everything, there is a desire on both sides to increase joint-working in order to try and use existing powers to tackle local concerns, whatever they might be. Schemes in Medway and Ealing show how it can be possible in areas where there are strong feelings about betting shops to work together to try to find pragmatic ways of addressing concerns about them. While this might not work everywhere, we would encourage councils with concerns about betting shops, or those wanting to enhance their local regulation, to consider this framework. Launching it is a good first step, but we need to make sure that it is used and acted on, by councils and betting shops alike.”
