The ALMR has responded to the Government’s proposals on amusement machines and related social responsibility measures, which were just published at the start of a 12-week consultation.
The proposals include the Government’s preference to retain the current stakes and prizes for the category C and D amusement machines that are allowed in pubs, and to retain the automatic allocation of two machines per pub.
Chief Executive, Kate Nicholls, (pictured) said, “These proposals, if implemented, would miss a much-needed opportunity to assist pubs at a time of an unprecedentedly tough trading environment. Amusement machines can be the lifeline for pub operators, who are facing so many rising costs such as business rates, beer duty and employment costs.
“Pub customers are able to gamble much larger stakes on their phones, so we believe it would be preferable that such activity is more visible and therefore better regulated.
“We’re also disappointed to see the Government has not taken on board our suggestion to increase the automatic entitlement from two machines to four. This straightforward move would have unlocked a potential revenue stream for pubs without undermining social responsibility work being done by venues.
“We will be discussing with our members how social responsibility measures may be developed and implemented to persuade the Government to reconsider these proposals.”