Gambling Industry Faces Addiction Tax

Feb 3 2008 By Mark Aitken Political Editor

Exclusive: Gambling Industry Faces Addiction Tax After Betting Explosion

A MULTI-MILLION pound gambling epidemic cost Scots an incredible £70 per head in losses last year, the Sunday Mail can reveal.

Around £350million was lost in bookmakers shops and on online accounts - double the amount thrown away by gamblers in 2001.

The remarkable sum does not even include the amounts staked in bingo halls, casinos and on the National Lottery.

The gambling explosion has led Scottish politicians to demand an "addict tax" on casinos - with the cash raised being used to help treat compulsive gamblers and warn of the dangers of betting.

SNP MSP Kenneth Gibson said: "A mandatory levy on all gambling firms operating in Scotland must be established."

Research from the Betting Research Unit at Nottingham Business School shows we are spending double the amount on betting compared to 2001, when tax on betting was abolished.

Professor Leighton Vaughn Williams, who heads the unit, said: "How much people lose on betting is £3.5billion in the UK annually, with £350million of that in Scotland.

"That is simply the amount which people spend - the turnover is much more."

He added: "The advent of the National Lottery had a lot to do with de-stigmatising gambling.

"Cable TV, with more sport screened so people can bet while a match or race is on, also led to an increase in betting.

"The average person will spend the same sort of money as they would when they go to the cinema.

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

Under the Gambling Act 2005, firms voluntarily pay into a fund which is used to help punters hooked on betting.

But companies are only giving half the £4million that had been expected.

Cunninghame North MSP Gibson called for Westminster to give the Scottish Parliament the power to make the levy compulsory.

He said: "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.

"The Scottish Parliament must have the powers to tackle this serious social issue. These powers should be used to introduce amandatory levy on gambling institutions.

"The current voluntary levy has proven to be utterly inadequate and treated with contempt by the industry."

According to the Gambling Commission, Scotland has a higher percentage of people with gambling problems than the UK as a whole.

The UK rate is 0.6 per cent of the population compared to 0.7-0.8 in Scotland.

Around 41 per cent of Scots have said they are likely to visit a casino, compared to a UK average of 33 per cent.

The number of bookmakers shops has rocketed while online gambling has soared.

Figures from the Horse Race Betting Levy Board show £6.8million came from online betting in 2006/7 - up by £1million in a year.

Clive Hawkswood, of the Remote Gambling Association, said: "Probably around a million people in the UK regularly gamble online.

"There's a whole generation who won't go to betting shops but will instead gamble online."

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