Over 100 Bacta member companies dialled in to Wednesday’s Bacta Webinar on Technical Standards. The message was clear – don’t put off responding to the Consultation and leave it to someone else, because failure to respond could result in the removal of thousands of machines and cost the industry tens of millions of pounds.

Bacta members were reminded in no uncertain terms that they have less than a fortnight to respond to the Gambling Commission consultation on Technical Standards whose original proposals could see the removal of thousands of machines, cost the industry tens of millions of pounds and put into question the viability of some businesses.

The Bacta Webinar on Technical Standards held Wednesday 21st May provided a highly concerning potential scenario supported by empirical evidence produced by the respected Centre for Economics and Business Research and backed by behavioural insight from consumer research agency Chrysalis.

Describing the June 3rd consultation cut-off time as being ‘the most crucial deadline the industry has faced for decades’ National Council member Tony Boulton pulled no punches in his analysis.

Addressing the hundreds of Bacta members who joined the webinar he said: “The original proposals would make it commercially impossible for many operators to continue trading and in the process damage already fragile economies on the high street and in seaside communities.

“My message to Bacta members is please do not leave it to somebody else to respond to the Consultation. The industry needs to provide as much lived experience based evidence as possible to demonstrate what I am sure are the unintended consequences of well-meaning proposals. The consultation forms produced by the Commission are quite complex , but Bacta is on-hand to provide guidance and make the process easier for members.”

There’s no doubt that Bacta is taking the threat posed by the proposals extremely seriously. The detailed submission to the consultation is the result of expert market analysis led by Tony Boulton and Alan Claypole and supported by independent research.

The overarching argument presented by the trade association is that the costs of implementing the Gambling Commission’s proposals far outweigh the perceived benefits and will, if implemented result in business closures.

Bacta argues that the evidence base for the proposals is weak and there’s a strong possibility of machine players changing their behaviour and eroding further the land based player base by driving customers online.

Having established its’ deeply held concerns Bacta has produced a set of recommendations and timelines. Mapping out Bacta’s preferred route forward Vice President Joseph Cullis said: “Our proposal is that the new technical standards should only apply to new games and machines or, as a backstop, that existing machines should be given a 10-year period to implement any changes.

“In relation to the Club sector Bacta believes that B4 and B3A machines should be exempted. Machines in Clubs are older and cannot accept software updates which would threaten what is a vital revenue stream for working men’s, Royal British Legion and a range of political clubs.”

Bacta does not oppose the proposal for breaks in play but is arguing for a graduated approach rather than a fixed 30-seconds. Furthermore, default time limits should be set at 30-minute intervals with the deposit limit set at £160.

It has warned that the benefits of introducing a system of staff alerts to every venue has not been evidentially demonstrated and that it would at least take 24-months to install the necessary data handling infrastructure.

Bacta members with any queries or requiring assistance with completing the Consultation form should contact: 

George.McGregor@bacta.org.uk