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On-course Betting

I too will be brief, because it is important for the Minister to have the maximum time in which to answer the points that have been raised today. The situation is serious. Confidence in gambling is crucial. With respect to the remarks of the hon. Member for Livingston (Mr. Devine), I shall say only this: the debate about online gambling has only just begun and it has many episodes yet to run. The National Joint Pitch Council will cease to exist in September when the relevant section of the Gambling Act 2005 is implemented. However, the fact that that much-criticised organisation is in its final days does not mean that it should escape rigorous investigation of the many serious allegations that we have heard. It has been investigated by the Office of Fair Trading and, in a fairly half-hearted way, by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. In one English region alone, 300 appeals have been made against its decisions. It is responsible for the administration of betting with bookmakers, and it is telling that, time and again, it has been in court defending itself against disgruntled bookmakers, the people whom it is meant to serve. It is incredible to hear that appeals are considered by those who were involved in the original decisions. That flies in the face of any sort of natural justice. Then, to cap it all, we hear that no minutes are kept. The concerns continue. I, like other hon. Members, praise my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr. Duncan Smith), and others who have raised continuing issues about the NJPC. We, and the Minister, must deal with the fact that it is somehow always the small man who gets it. This is a story about the big boys against the little boys; it is a story about ad hoc rule making and flagrant rule breaking. Yet nothing has been done about it, and it has taken my right hon. Friend’s hard work to bring it yet again to the Minister’s attention. I look forward to hearing what the Minister will say. In its nine years of existence, the NJPC has irreparably damaged many bookmakers’ businesses. It is time that we had an independent inquiry into its workings, so that confidence can be restored to the regulation of the industry before the Gambling Act 2005 comes into force. There are huge concerns, not only in this House but among the general public, about the Act. I hope that the Minister will take the opportunity of the debate to restore the confidence of hon. Members and the public in what will happen after September. Irrespective of whether conspiracy or incompetence is responsible for the problem, nothing but a full independent inquiry will do.