Sunday, October 08, 2006

Pub owners will be able to raise the pay-out limit on fruit machines,
following a concession from the Government. The Department for Culture,
Media and Sport (DCMS) has given the go-ahead to increase pay-out limits on
fruit machines from £25 to £35, ahead of the Gambling Act next September.
DCMS announced the measure in response to lobbying from the main trade
bodies in the sector, including Business in Sport and Leisure (BISL) and the
British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA). Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of
BISL, said: "Working with the major trade associations who have an interest
in this area, we convinced ministers of the hardship the industry was
experiencing at this low-stake, low-price end of the market." "As a result
they have bought forward the changes to stakes and increased the prize for
the 'pub' machine to £35," she said. A spokesman for the BBPA welcomed "the
modest" change as a step in the right direction. It should help soften the
blow of next year's smoking ban in England and Wales for pub operators,
which fear fruit machine revenues will be hit hard as smokers go elsewhere.
High-street operator JD Wetherspoon, which has pubs in Scotland and sites
that have been smoke-free in England and Wales for almost a year, recently
reported a fall in gambling revenues at its no-smoking pubs. However,
because the changes put fruit machines into a higher tax bracket, operators
are unlikely to see benefits from the agreement until they are reclassified
in next year's budget and the rate of tax is lowered.