Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of reducing the maximum stake for fixed odds betting terminals from £100 to £2.

We conducted a review of stakes and prizes during the last triennial review in 2013 and acknowledged the lack of evidence on whether FOBT gaming machines and related stake size in themselves have had any significant effect on the level of problem gambling in Britain. However, recognising that harm can be caused by gambling, including machine gambling, the government brought in restrictions for the maximum unsupervised stake on FOBTs.

More time is needed for these changes to bed in before drawing conclusions as to their effectiveness. The Government continues to monitor the effects of existing controls and if need be will take action if these controls are found to be insufficient.