How much gambling do you want in your high street? Are you happy with all the betting shops, the problems they cause, the effect on your environment?
It’s worth asking because for years, local councils have been expected to say yes to new gambling venues, even when communities made clear they did not want them. Now, under new rules announced on Monday, that’s about to change. And about time.
Speaking to local residents I hear a clear message time and again: people are fed up with seeing so much gambling where they live, while having little say over whether new venues open.
I knew grappling with this issue would be an uphill battle. The gambling industry is lucrative and deeply embedded in our communities. When I looked into why councils were struggling to stop new betting shops, casinos and adult gaming centres opening, I discovered the problem.
At the heart of it was the outdated “aim to permit” principle in the Gambling Act 2005. It meant councils were effectively working against a presumption that gambling premises should be permitted, leaving them limited ability to say no. This one principle is the root of the crisis on our high streets: it has stripped local people of any real power to shape their own communities, and let the industry expand largely unchecked.
So in 2021 I started my campaign to put power back where it belongs: in the hands of councils and local communities. Today, after years of campaigning, I’m delighted to say that we’ve won.
The government has announced it is scrapping aim to permit, giving councils and communities greater power over what happens on their high streets. This is a huge victory for London, and for communities nationwide. But it took years of pressure and persistence to get here.
I took a minister to Harlesden high street to see the reality for themselves. I launched a petition so Londoners could make their voices heard. I organised a cross-party letter backed by more than 280 MPs, councillors, mayors and gambling reform advocates, including the then mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham. I took the campaign into parliament too, raising it at prime minister’s questions and leading a debate.
During my summer tour last year, I took the campaign into communities across London, listening to what people wanted to see on their high streets, and meeting families affected by gambling harms, such as the campaigner Jackie Olden, who watched her mother’s life spiral out of control thanks to a slot-machine addiction.
It was a shock to discover how much gambling machines generate: B3 (higher-stakes) gambling machines – essentially slot/fruit machine-style games, found in places such as betting shops, adult gaming centres and casinos – generate an average of £35,000 in gross gambling yield per machine each year – more than the roughly £26,400 a year earned by someone aged 21 or over working 40 hours a week on the national living wage. The scale of the problem is clear in Brent, where gambling premises outnumber supermarkets in 17 of Brent’s 22 wards. We have 81 licensed gambling venues across the borough. For my constituents, this is about improving the places they live and raise their families. People want to be proud of their high streets again.
The consequences of gambling-related harm can be devastating. A 2023 report estimated there could be between 117 and 496 gambling-related suicides in England each year. I’ve worked with campaigners and advocates with lived experience of gambling harm, and highlighted organisations such as Gambling with Lives and Gambling Harm UK, whose expertise helped make the case for reform.
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I’m grateful to residents who signed my petition, representatives who backed my campaign, councils including Brent council that pushed for this change, and every reform advocate who helped build momentum. I’m also grateful to Andy Burnham, who followed through on his support by committing to make this bold change.
Our high streets should work for local people – not for companies profiting from harm. No longer should residents feel powerless when they see changes on their doorstep. That is why scrapping aim to permit matters: it will make a real, tangible difference to people’s lives.
With the support of Londoners and campaigners across the country, we fought, organised and delivered. So, this is your chance: take back your high streets. Get involved, hold your council to account – use these new powers to demand and shape the neighbourhoods you deserve.
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Dawn Butler is the Labour MP for Brent East
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