24th Apr 2018 10:33
LONDON (Alliance News) - The Times on Tuesday reported a move to cut the maximum stake on fixed odds betting terminals to GBP2.00 is due to be announced "within weeks" as
the Treasury signalled agreement on the issue.
Chancellor Philip Hammond had delayed agreeing to the cut amid a Whitehall dispute over how lost taxes from the terminals would be replaced. However, The Times said the chancellor is understood to have accepted "expert recommendations" that the maximum stake for the betting terminals should be reduced to GBP2.00.
The UK Department of Culture, Media & Sport is currently seeking to limit the maximum bet on fixed odds betting terminals, which currently allow gamblers to place bets of up to GBP100 every 20 seconds on games such as roulette.
The Times reported Hammond's allies said that there was growing optimism that an agreement with Matt Hancock, the culture secretary, was imminent. "We are very nearly there," one said.
Election purdah rules mean that any announcement must wait until after next week's local elections, The Times noted. The newspaper also said the final decision is yet to be signed off by Prime Minister Theresa May.
"The industry has been hoping that the Treasury's reluctance to sign off a deal would result in a compromise limit of GBP20 to GBP30," The Times said.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/hammond-accepts-2-limit-for-addictive-gambling-machines-wvqhcln95
London-listed bookmakers were down on Tuesday, with FTSE 100-listed Paddy Power Betfair PLC down 5.4% at 6,925.00 pence, and mid-caps William Hill and GVC Holdings down 14% at 288.84p and 6.7% at 906.00p, respectively.
Related Shares:
WMH.LGVC.LPaddy Power Betfair