Councils powerless as ’addictive’ slot machine firms target deprived areas

Politicians have called for greater restrictions on slot machine firms targeting poor communities.

The number of slot machine shops has increased by seven per cent since 2022, with most open 24 hours a day. Organisation Merkur has launched more than 100 new shops since 2020.

An investigation by the Guardian found that slot machine shops target deprived communities, with a third of them open in the poorest ten per cent of Britain and over half found in the poorest 20 per cent.

Targeting the vulnerable

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham says councils should be given the power to prevent more of these venues “targeting some of the most vulnerable in our communities” from opening on their high streets.

targeting some of the most vulnerable in our communities

He said: “It’s unacceptable that councils have so little power to regulate them despite repeated concerns from charities and local residents.

“We must reclassify these venues in law, give local authorities stronger licensing powers, and hold operators accountable.”

‘Addictive products’

Labour MP Dr Beccy Cooper echoed Burnham’s concerns. She warned that slot machine shops “seem to be clustered in areas of higher deprivation lining the pockets of gambling companies at the expense of some of our poorest communities”.

Prof Henrietta Bowden-Jones, NHS England’s National Clinical Adviser on Gambling Harms, said: “Slot machine venues, particularly those open 24/7, deploy addictive products to keep vulnerable people playing for hours on end, against their own interests.

the NHS is supporting record numbers who have had their lives destroyed by gambling

“The Guardian’s findings indicate that the result of this is simply to channel funds from the pockets of the poorest into the pockets of the richest. This comes as the NHS is supporting record numbers who have had their lives destroyed by gambling, with 15 clinics now up and running across England.”

‘Serious harm’

The House of Commons’ Health and Social Care Committee has warned of the “serious harm” gambling can cause “financially, physically, mentally, and in some cases as a cause of suicide”.

In a letter to the Department of Health and Social Care, the Committee’s Chairwoman Layla Moran MP urged the Government to review the Gambling Act 2005, in light of the Committee’s recent evidence session on gambling-related harms.

She noted that although 80 per cent of the population are exposed to gambling advertising each week, it has still not been banned before the watershed, and problem gamblers also feel “there is no escape”.