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Finance Bill

The hon. Gentleman has raised two issues. Of course we are sensitive—I am sensitive—to the health of particular industries and how their activities are affected, but he seems to be suggesting that this industry is in difficulty because of the revalorisation of amusement machine licence duty. Although he may well have a point, the issues affecting the industry range more widely than whether we revalorise amusement machine licence duty as a tax. They also involve some of the changes resulting from the gambling legislation, and the changes in the social law. However, that is a matter for my colleagues in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Category B3 machines are high-price gaming machines with a maximum stake of £1 and a maximum prize of £500. As we were told by the hon. Member for Putney, adult gaming centres and licensed bingo halls are permitted a maximum of four such machines. My colleagues in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport are considering the case for assisting bingo halls and arcades, but the Government's underlying approach to gambling regulation is rightly a precautionary one. We must weigh the industry's demands that we help it through economic difficulties against any danger that higher-stake, high-prize machines may pose to the public. As I have said, amusement machine licence duty is a fixed cost, so because of inflation the real value of revenue raised by it will diminish over time. Reducing AMLD rates in 2009 to their August 2006 levels would cost £15 million. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has said that it is considering the industry's case for assistance, and it would be wrong to pre-empt the process by making an explicit link between the social regulation of gaming duties and levels of amusement machine licence duty. I hope that, given that explanation, the hon. Member for Putney will withdraw her amendment.