The UK government is preparing to introduce a package of enforcement reforms aimed at giving local councils significantly greater powers over the types of businesses permitted to operate on Britain’s high streets, with the new measures specifically targeting betting shops, adult gaming centers (AGCs), and vape shops.
What Does the Government Plan to Do?
The news comes as the country’s Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, vowed to crack down on slot arcades and betting shops. He said that many high streets in UK cities had been “hollowed out” over decades of decline, leaving them almost unrecognizable to the people who grew up there.
He argued that the rise of vape shops, betting shops, and rogue operators had displaced the shops, services, and community spaces that residents were calling for. According to the Centre for Social Justice, nearly 1,800 pubs and bars have closed across the UK since 2016, while the number of vape and tobacco shops has climbed to almost 2,200.
Under the proposed legislation, the government plans to scrap the Gambling Act’s “Aim to Permit” rule. It currently restricts councils’ ability to reject new betting shops, even when there is strong opposition from local communities.
AGCs, which can offer customers access to slot and fruit machines for up to 24 hours a day, would also be brought under the same planning rules. Currently, these businesses can open without planning permission in much the same way as a coffee shop or clothing retailer.
Some Welcome the Changes, While Others Criticize Them
The move has also been welcomed by the Social Market Foundation (SMF). Jamie Gollings, deputy research director at the SMF, described the reforms as a “significant and welcome step” towards strengthening local democracy and supporting thriving communities. He argued that councils understand the needs of their high streets better than anyone, but said the “Aim to Permit” rule had left them with little meaningful influence over which businesses were allowed to open.
Naturally, however, the proposed legislation also has critics. Compliance consultant Kirsty Caldwell of Betsmart also criticized the government’s comparison between licensed betting shops and vape shops on the high street. She argued that the betting industry invests millions in regulatory controls and consumer protection. She also pointed out that legal betting shops have been a fixture of British high streets since the 1960s, arguing that their long-standing presence did not make high streets “unrecognizable”.
Meanwhile, the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) had a more balanced opinion of the matter. According to a spokesperson, the organization supported tougher action against criminal operators and agreed that local communities should have a meaningful say in the future of their high streets.
However, the spokesperson rejected claims that betting shops were spreading unchecked, pointing to a decline in the number of betting shops since 2019. According to the BGC, their numbers have fallen by more than a third, with around 3,000 shops closing and more than 15,000 jobs being lost.
In other news from the UK, over 200 victims of an alleged Ponzi scheme would receive $17M compensation from British gambling operators.