Local authorities and mayors have urged the Government to grant them more powers to tackle gambling in their local areas.
Brent Council has launched a new campaign raising awareness of the harmful impact of gambling and calling on the Government to reform the legislation regulating the industry.
In a letter to secretary of state for culture Lisa Nandy, Brent council leader Muhammed Butt and Cllr Mili Patel said the Gambling Act 2005 was ‘desperately out of date’.
They said the 'Aim to Permit' policy within the Act ‘severely limits’ a council’s ability to prevent the opening of gambling venues, ‘even when the community is unequivocally against it.’
The letter, signed by nearly 40 councillors and mayors – including mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham – called for reform of 'Aim to Permit' and the introduction of a statutory levy for gambling harm prevention.
‘To be clear, we are not calling for an outright ban on gambling in any form; but instead, we are offering our collective support for much-needed reform of the legislation for the modern age,’ they added.
.png)
