A new partnership has been launched between the London Borough of Brent and the cross-party think tank Social Market Foundation to explore how to empower local authorities to understand and tackle gambling-related harm.
The announcement, which happened on Tuesday (June 17), has come after a spate of media stories about the rise of adult gaming centers and the harm caused by access to slot premises in the UK.
In light of this, Brent Council has spent the last few months rallying leaders across the country to join its campaign to remove the ‘Aim to Permit’ rule, which makes it harder for councils and residents to refuse gambling license applications.
Going forward, the council will be working alongside the think tank to argue for the removal of the ‘Aim to Permit’ rule. They will be making the case for change to the existing Gambling Act to the new Labour government.
London Brent borough partners with think thank
“For too long, the house has always won – with big businesses extracting ever more profit from our high streets, while furthering financial addiction amongst their players,” said Cllr Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council.
“Local leaders representing over 12 million people up and down the country agree with Brent that our high streets can do so much better than betting shops and bookmakers.
“Together with SMF, we will set out the case for changes which put power back in the hands of communities and break the cycle of this gambling epidemic”.
The council will be drawing on the expertise of the Social Market Foundation to turbocharge Brent’s calls for change.’ The project is aiming to dispel the myth that gambling centers, including adult gaming centers, support economic growth locally.
Theo Bertram, Director of the Social Market Foundation, said, “The goal of this research and our collaboration with Brent is to measure the real social and economic impact of clusters of Adult Gaming Centres and, where there is evidence of harm, to develop policy recommendations that empower communities to reduce that harm. We are delighted to be working with Brent on this vital topic.”
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