Brent East’s deputy, Dawn Butler, told the House of Commons that he is “sick and tired” of the number of game establishments that “appear” in the municipality.
There are now more licensed premises in Brent – 81 – than combined supermarkets and schools. Mrs. Butler described the game law “that is not suitable for the modern era”, pointing out the clause ‘objective of allowing’ which means that the councils have limited power to reject requests.
Mrs. Butler said: “Every time a store closes, an establishment of gambling tries to place a betting store there.
“I have had so many arguments with the Brent Council that they now led an incredible campaign and have joined 40 another advice throughout the country that apply to the government to reform the game of the game to protect our high streets.
“Fixed probability betting terminals are more addictive than heroin and for all game addicts at least seven other people are also affected.”
Throughout the reform of the policy of ‘objective of allowing’, the Plan of six points of the Brent Council implies the categorization game game facilities, considering the debt of households in planning applications, introducing a legal tax on game companies or the game.
Mrs. Butler wants this to “restart the relationship between the central and local government” to ensure that local authorities have the power to say no to more playing sites in the main streets.
He has also written a formal objection to the Brent Council licenses committee before a request to convert the old Santander branch into Neasden Lane, a bingo hall, which will be decided on April 22.
An application to convert the former Bank of Santander into Neasden into a Bingo hall will be decided next week. Image credit: Google Maps
In a written presentation, Mrs. Butler states that the area is “disproportionately affected” by such facilities and that current legislation “has been a serious failure for communities.”
He also claims to have written to 7,000 homes in the municipality to ask for their experiences of gambling and bets, calling the “Stark” answer.
According to Mrs. Butler, 97.5 percent or respondents opposed bets; 80 percent questioned why they were granted more permission; 75 percent requested that the number be limited; and 62.5 percent of detailed experiences of antisocial behavior in the vicinity of the facilities.
She added: “I have heard of families who faced financial castrates or gambling and of so many people for whom their daily life is ruined by the associated antisocial behavior, in particular the circulations of street tests”
In his manifesto before the general elections of last year, the Labor Party promised to reduce the damage related to the game by reforming the regulation and strengthening of the protections. In November 2024, the Labor Government announced plans to introduce a legal tax on game companies, as well as the introduction of new participation limits for online slots. The government described these changes as “the first steps” to strengthen legislation.
In March 2025, the Government confirmed the dates of when the new stake limits would enter into force. The new £ 5 limit for all adults entered at the beginning of last week (April 9), while the limit of £ 2 for adults between 18 and 24 years will enter into force on May 21.
