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Categories of Gaming Machine (Amendment) Regulations 2009

My Lords, as someone who spent a lot of time on the passing of the Gambling Act 2005, and from the word go had considerable concerns about the dangers of children being exposed to unnecessary risks, I have considerable sympathy for what the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Carlisle has just said. There must have been better ways of spending the money in difficult times and difficult areas—ways that might have been of greater benefit to the whole community, rather than just to the gambling few. The amount by which the prizes have gone up seems considerable. We have heard little to assuage the worry that many people have that the younger you start getting involved in gambling, the more likely you are to become a problem gambler. The evidence that we have been sent from Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where one-third of profits from gaming machines come from at-risk or problem gamblers, ought to give us pause before we pour yet more money in these directions. It is very difficult to see a proper way forward here. I reiterate my sadness that money which rightly should be going to help poorer communities in this appalling economic climate has gone in this particular direction.