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Categories of Gaming Machine (Amendment) Regulations 2009

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his speech, which put the arguments so clearly. I am sorry that the Government did not keep to their initial thoughts, but bowed to pressure from the gaming industry to raise the size of the stakes and prizes. There were several references to putting appropriate controls in place. I am not clear what those are and whether they would work. I, too, played some of these penny-fall machines as a child, and indeed have done occasionally since—with much the same results as the noble Lord. I am completely at a loss to know why we pass laws that seem to encourage the gaming industry to expand—and I believe that this legislation does that. We have also had battles over the Manchester supercasino, which certainly did that. Why do we encourage this? We know that gambling and gaming so easily become addictive, and that they harm both individuals and society. That is why a coalition of faith bodies is opposed to this legislation. The Minister spoke eloquently about listening to these groups, but it does not seem that their concerns have really been taken into account. There is evidence from Canada, Australia and New Zealand that at least one-third of the profits of gaming come from at-risk or problem gamblers. That is not entertainment. The Minister argued that there would be no significant increase through these proposals; that remains to be seen. I believe that they will increase problem gambling in a time of recession, and vulnerable people will be most affected. The 2007 gambling prevalence study showed that those on lower incomes have higher rates of problem gambling. We have a duty, as the Minister said, towards the vulnerable and towards children. There has already been a threefold increase in stakes since 1997. The increase proposed is neither proportionate nor modest; it is well above the rate of inflation. The argument that children can access these machines because stakes and prizes are low, which was put in 2005, will no longer be the case. Children are being sacrificed to the demands of seaside arcades. Children will be able to accept prizes worth £50 and £70. These are getting close to hard gambling numbers, as the Minister said. It was promised in 2005 that there would be research into whether higher stakes and prizes led to an increase in problem gambling. None has been forthcoming. There was a promise from Tessa Jowell that there would be no further liberalisation until proper research was done. Recently, the Gambling Commission released a study that confirmed the strong relationship between problem gambling—including slot-machine gambling—and high alcohol consumption. Could we have research into how many alcohol-related deaths are also linked to gaming and gambling? It is a laudable aim to seek to stem the decline of our seaside towns. However, the way to do this is to encourage healthy activities for families. Playing fruit machines and gaming machines are largely individual pursuits, not things that families enjoy doing together. A similar argument applies to pubs. We want the English pub to thrive, but the income that landlords make from gaming machines is tiny compared with the annual turnover. Increasing stakes and prizes will not save pubs. What will save them are high-quality meals, social activities like quizzes and enough space in our overworked lives to go out and enjoy ourselves—because we live in a culture of overwork. Voting for these regulations encourages the gaming industry to grow and expand, when much of the Christian church thinks it would be better for our nation if it contracted. At a time when we take issues of health and family cohesion very seriously—the Prime Minister repeatedly speaks of robust values—this is a step in the wrong direction that will make the vulnerable more vulnerable.