SCOTS MP CALLS FOR ADDICTION TAX ON GAMBLING

8 February 2008

With UK gambling reaching new heights, concerns about funding for addiction problems are mounting


Scottish politician Kenneth Gibson has called for a mandatory levy on gambling firms operating in Scotland with a view to more adequately funding provisions for addicts, the Sunday Mail reported over the weekend.

"A mandatory levy on all gambling firms operating in Scotland must be established," said the SNP MSP, calling for Westminster to give the Scottish Parliament the power to make the levy compulsory. "It is simply not acceptable for gambling firms to make a fortune in profits from the Scottish people while largely ignoring their social responsibility to help educate people of the dangers of gambling and contribute to the treatment of gambling addicts."

Gibson says that there is provision within the new UK Gambling Act, which came into effect in September last year, for gambling companies to voluntarily pay into a fund to combat gambling addiction, but that not all operators are contributing under this. Similar warnings have been given by senior industry executives who have urged fellow operators to meet their social obligations voluntarily or face compulsory taxation. Companies gave only 50 percent of the expected GBP 4 million last year.

The reluctance to fund addictive gambling organisations is surprising in an industry that is flourishing like never before, says the newspaper. According to the Sunday Mail gamblers lose a whopping GBP 3.5 billion in the U.K. each year - GBP 350 million in Scotland alone. The sum does not include amounts lost in casinos, bingo halls and the National Lottery.

Research from the Betting Research Unit at Nottingham Business School claims that U.K. citizens are spending double the amount on betting compared to 2001 when betting tax was removed.

One of the researchers for the unit, Professor Leighton Vaughn Williams, had some additional theories on what has led to the explosion of gambling in the U.K. and particularly Scotland.

"The advent of the National Lottery had a lot to do with de-stigmatising gambling," he told the newspaper. "Cable TV, with more sport screened so people can bet while a match or race is on, also led to an increase in betting."

Williams went on to say that problems with gambling must be addressed directly.

"You do have some people who have problems with gambling," he said. "But you don't solve the problem by shutting your eyes to it, you solve it by regulating the industry."

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