UK Government pauses plans to relax gambling laws on slot machines

Plans to liberalise UK government laws about high street slot machines have been paused and could be scrapped altogether. 

Currently, no more than 20% of machines in a venue can be category B3, which allows you to stake up to £2 and have the potential of winning up to £500. The remaining 80% must have maximum stakes of £1 and have a highest jackpot of £100.

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The previous Conservative government had announced plans in 2023 to allow adult gaming centres (ADC) to install new machines that would allow for higher stakes – more of a 50/50 split. However, the Labour government looks set to prevent the relaxation of that law and could potentially scrap it altogether. 

Bacta, the UK’s leading trade association for amusement and land-based low-stake gambling, were left disappointed at the news. 

The president of the organisation, John Bollom, stated: “We are frustrated with the delay in resolving the 80/20 issue, which was a key modernising proposal in the gambling white paper.

“However we remain hopeful that we will see the same progress as other sectors; and that when the minister looks again she will see this reform for what it is – common sense, safe for players and good for our ailing high streets.”

The sector has also complained that this ruling stifles growth because most customers don’t want to play lower-stake machines, and therefore these shops are wasting floorspace and losing electricity. 

Former Conservative party leader and chair of a parliamentary group examining gambling related harm, Iain Duncan Smith, spoke of his support for the decision. 

He claimed: “Given the insufficient protections in place for people in these venues and the addictive nature of these machines, increasing their numbers should be ruled out entirely.

“The current widespread breaches of regulations by AGCs, which are now proliferating on our high streets, must be urgently looked into.”

Labour MP Beccy Cooper went further and claimed the government should go further to ban these venues altogether. 

“Local councils also need more powers to enable them to restrict the number of gambling outlets in local communities to prevent gambling harms,” she said.

It remains to be seen whether the current 80/20 rule will be changed at any point, but it looks certain that it won’t be happening this year. 

The department for culture, media & sport recognised the “concerns about the strength of protections for vulnerable people in the adult gaming centre sector”. 

Statements like that suggest UK laws are likely to be strengthened in the sector, not relaxed like previously thought.