While Andrew Stuart, the former and now shadow secretary of state at the DCMS, first proposed the Statutory Levy in the gambling review white paper, his colleague Louie French, the shadow parliamentary under secretary, has now voted against it, labelling the increased scope of “Labour’s ill-considered proposals” as “simply unaffordable” for “smaller operators.
Labour’s “ill-considered” additions to the proposed statutory levy has turned Conservatives against the new system, with shadow gambling minister Louie French labelling it as “simply unaffordable” for “smaller operators”.
The proposal passed the House of Commons on 29 January with an 11-four vote in favour of the scheme, and a review by the House of Lords is underway. The plan also states that it will establish online slot stake limits, with £5 for those over 25 and £2 for those aged 18 to 24, but the major cause of contention was the expansion of the proposed statutory levy, in areas that hit hardest, and that’s the land based sector..
“There are deep sector concerns about who this Labour Government are targeting by expanding the scope of the regulations. For example, regulation 2 brings into scope trackside betting at greyhound and horseracing racecourses, while regulation 3 sets the minimum levy payment threshold, which had previously been agreed at £500,000 a year. However, the Government have gone much further, reducing the minimum threshold to only £10 for small operators, after which point they would need to start paying the mandatory levy and doing the administration that goes alongside that,” said French. “Unsurprisingly, the move has caused great alarm among independent and smaller firms, which are being brought into the scope of liability for levy payments for the first time. Independent bingo hall operators have also been brought into scope. Under regulation 4, these businesses will be charged at 0.2 percent, which I understand is double what had been proposed previously.”
French argued that these increases “will further push up costs for businesses, severely restricting or even removing the viability of smaller gambling operators”, especially those already struggling from Labour’s recent tax increases.
Perhaps most damning of all was the reaction from the harm reduction sector. Jordan Lea, chief executive of Deal Me Out, took to LinkedIn to criticise Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a driving force behind the new proposals, for “citing the same old boring, false and dangerous narratives used to discredit” the voluntary levy. He also believes the proposed statutory levy shouldn’t be allowed to dismantle the existing harm reduction sector.
“I, and Deal Me Out absolutely support the conservative party in questioning and seeking clarification on the statutory levy before supporting it,” he said. “The levy should not result in job losses and a struggling RET sector.”
While the proposals were passed in the House of Commons, the statutory levy has united the gambling industry and the harm reduction sector against it, and even the ministers that first suggested the new system now want it scrapped. All will be hoping to see the House of Lords do its job in safeguarding against such “ill-considered” legislation.
