Wales Bill on FOBTs has not succeeded

The Welsh government has failed at implementing the bill to control FOBTs.

UK.- Fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) amendment in Wales has not succeed. The Welsh government will not receive further power to control the operations of the gaming machines, as the UK will be in charge of the sector.

The House of Commons decided to reject the amendment of FOBTs, which was included in the Wales Bill proposal. That part of the bill would have extended the power on FOBTs with maximum stakes over £10. The control will be devolved to the UK government.

The Labour party also intended to down the maximum stake to £2. However, the Parliament ended the debate yesterday. Legislators expect the approved part of the bill to gain Royal Assent in February. Labour estimates that Wales currently has more than 1500 FOBTs that report earnings of £1.6 billion every year.