Plans to liberalise rules governing high street slot machine shops have been shelved, amid concern about the sector’streatment of vulnerable customers.
Ministers were widely expected to allow adult gaming centres (AGCs), many of whichallow customers to play slots 24 hours a day, to install more higher-stakes machines.
But, in a rare setback for the fast-growing AGC sector, which declared itself “frustrated” by the decision, relaxation of the rules will not go ahead this year and could be dropped altogether.
Under a regulation known as the “80/20 rule”, no more than 20% of the terminals in arcades and bingo premises can be category B3, a class of slot machine that allows stakes of up to £2, promising prizes of up to £500.
The remaining 80% must be category C or D, where maximum stakes are £1 and the highest jackpot is £100.
The land-based gaming sector has complained that this stifles growth because most customers don’t play the lower-stakes machines, meaning shops are wasting floorspace and electricity costs.
The previous Conservative government was preparing to ease the rule as part of awider series of regulatory changes, published in a gambling white paper in 2023, that cracked down on online operators but were generally kinder to high street venues.
In May last year, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said it was considering either a new 50/50 ratio or abandoning the 80/20 rule altogether.
But in a letter seen by the Guardian, DCMS officials said the government would “not be introducing changes to the 80/20 rule this year”.
They did not rule out reviving the plan but said the department recognised “concerns about the strength of protections for vulnerable people in the adult gaming centre sector”.
This year, the slot machine firm Merkur wasfined almost £100,000by the gambling regulator after theGuardian revealed how staff allegedly exploited a vulnerable cancer patient.
Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative party leader who chairs a parliamentary group examining gambling harm, said: “Given the insufficient protections in place for people in these venues and the addictive nature of these machines, increasing their numbers should be ruled out entirely and the current widespread breaches of regulations by AGCs, which are now proliferating on our high streets, must be urgently looked into.”
John Bollom, the president of the arcades trade body, Bacta, said: “We are frustrated with the delay in resolving the 80/20 issue, which was a key modernising proposal in the gambling white paper, but we remain hopeful that we will see the same progress as other sectors; and that when the minister looks again she will see this reform for what it is – common sense, safe for players and good for our ailing high streets.”
Bacta said its members adhered to the highest standards of player protection.
Beccy Cooper, a Labour MP, welcomed the move and called for the government to go further to restrict AGCs.
“Local councils also need more powers to enable them to restrict the number of gambling outlets in local communities to prevent gambling harms,” she said.
DCMS has been approached for comment.