Gambling Act 2005 (Operating Licence Conditions) (Amendment) Regulations 2010

My Lords, I am grateful to both noble Lords for their contributions. If I am slightly more grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Howard, I am sure that the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, will understand why. Brevity being the soul of legislation, the noble Lord, Lord Howard, was succinct enough for me to limit my response to him to expressing my gratitude for his support for these benign and constructive regulations. I hear what the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, says about the regulations; would that they had been introduced earlier. The bingo industry has benefited from actions taken by the Government over the past few years. The increase in stake and prize levels for category C gaming machines that we introduced in June last year has benefited the industry, and in February 2008 we doubled to eight the number of B3 gaming machines that bingo clubs could offer. We have the interests of the bingo industry very much in our minds and we recognise the pressures on it. However, the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, with his usual standards of fairness, will recognise that most industries are under pressure in a period of recession, and certainly those industries that cater for leisure time and somewhat limited surplus funds are bound to feel the impact more than others. The consultation that we held last year led to improvements for the industry. I accept the noble Lord’s point that Governments can always act more rapidly on consultations, but we have to be assured about the issues. The whole construct of the Gambling Act—on the preparation of which he and I spent many happy hours in distant years gone by—contained very clear principles, particularly in relation to gambling where children are present; and when introducing actions to liberalise and extend limits in the industry, we have to go back to the first principles that govern the Act. Bingo halls are an important part of the social fabric of many areas. We want to see them flourish and sustained but, by the same token, we do not want their social ethos to change and we certainly do not want them, in any way, shape or form, to represent any conceivable risk to social life, either in terms of gambling or its effect on children. That is why we are so careful with this industry. I accept the noble Lord’s criticism. It is always easier in opposition to suggest that the Government could do things more adroitly if only they followed the principles of the opposition parties, which have good ideas every second day and then discover that they take rather longer to implement. In government, the responsibilities are such that we have to measure matters with some care. However, given that noble Lords are prepared to give a fair wind to these regulations, we have reached our major objective of parliamentary consent to beneficial orders.