Council Leader's column: Safer gambling rules are best bet for Rochdale

Councillor Allen Brett, Leader of the Council

​I was really pleased when I turned on the news last week and saw that the hard work that has been put in to reduce the impact of gambling machines has finally come to fruition.

Under new rules unveiled by the government, gambling machines found in bookies (fixed odds betting terminals) will now have a £2 limit, rather than the current £100 limit.

The council, along with other local authorities across the country, has formally supported the Campaign for Fairer Gambling's call for this reduction for years.

It's brilliant to see that spending large amounts of money on these machines will be made harder and that this will call a halt to people being able to spend £100 in as little as 20 seconds.

It's well documented that gambling addictions can ruin people's lives and it's a real problem we face in Rochdale.

As you may remember, a few years ago there was widespread coverage of Rochdale's gambling problem when it was revealed that £72million was spent in Rochdale on gambling machines in 2012  that's the equivalent of everyone in the borough betting £340 a year.

Unfortunately, the problem continued to get worse between 2012 and 2013, and the amount spent on these machines increased by 112%.

This new limit is a great step in the right direction in the fight to reduce the harm caused to people with gambling addictions, and I'd like to thank everyone who has campaigned for this.

If you are concerned about your own gambling habits, help is available.

Councillor Allen Brett
Leader
Rochdale Borough Council