The British government has thrown Bingo Halls a lifeline by changing their minds on the slots machines restrictions.
Gary Sutcliffe, the Sports Minister, had said in March that he was willing to look at ways to help the industry. He has now announced plans to reverse changes that had been introduced last September. The policy had reduced the limit of slot machines allowed in a bingo club from eight to four.
There are 600 clubs in the UK at the moment, and they are struggling at the moment, suffering from high taxation in the form of 15% gross profits tax and 17.5% VAT, as well as restrictions on £500 jackpot slot machines, and the recently introduced smoking ban. In the last four years, almost 100 clubs have been forced to close down.
Paul Talboys, the Bingo Association chief executive, commented that the decision marked 'the end of a long and frustrating wait. [...] We believe today's announcement will go some way to addressing the adverse position that bingo operates under. Our hope is that this can be implemented as soon as practicably possible, as the future of many clubs depends on it.”
Sutcliffe has also announced plans to bring forward the review of low stakes gaming machines by one year, saying that “Bingo clubs play a crucial role in many communities and we want to see that continue.”
He did, however, reject calls from the industry to increase the number of machines and stake limits in high street arcades, saying that such a move would create high street 'machine sheds', which would put public protection at risk.
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