UK Casino Regulations: Balancing Economic Growth & Gambling Harm

New UK regulations for land-based casinos aim to modernize rules and boost the economy. Changes include increased gaming machine allowances for 'converted casinos' and allowing them to offer betting. While supporting sector growth, the measures also introduce protections. However, parliamentary debate highlights concerns about potential increases in gambling harm, the adequacy of impact assessments, and enforcement challenges, sparking a debate on balancing economic aims with public safety.

Key Takeaways:

• "Converted casinos" can increase gaming machines (up to 80) if they meet specific size and area requirements, like having a gambling area of at least 500 square metres and a 5:1 machine-to-table ratio.
• The machine-to-table ratio for both small and converted casinos changes from 2:1 to 5:1, aligning them with larger casinos.
• All converted casinos can now offer betting products, which was previously prohibited.
• These regulations are estimated to increase the annual gross gambling yield by £53 million to £58 million.
• Concerns were raised about a potential increase in gambling-related harm and the transparency of the impact assessment, particularly due to redacted information.

Definitions:

• Converted Casinos: Casinos that were already operating when the Gambling Act 2005 came into force.
• Gross Gambling Yield (GGY): The total amount of money generated by gambling, before costs and taxes.
• Machine-to-Table Ratio: A rule limiting the number of gaming machines a casino can have based on its number of tables.

Discussion:

• How can governments effectively balance promoting economic growth in sectors like gambling with ensuring robust safeguards to prevent and mitigate gambling-related harm?

Source: Casinos (Gaming Machines and Mandatory Conditions) Regulations 2025
Volume 846: debated in Lords 17 June 2025

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No outside chatter: source material only taken from Hansard and the Parliament UK website.

Contains Parliamentary information repurposed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0....