At the start of the week in the UK Parliament, the Minister for Sport and Tourism, Richard Caborn, was asked whether the Government intended to stick with the one regional super-casino agreed by the last Parliament. Lately it has been suggested that there may be room for manoeuvre, and Mr Caborn’s reply last Monday, “obviously we do not rule out the possibility of asking Parliament at some future point to consider changing the numbers” has given new hope to all the projects and plans for super-casinos that previously surfaced the length and breadth of Britain.

According to the Minister for Sport and Tourism, the Gambling Act 2005 will be brought into full effect from September 2007. In the meantime, further credence has been given to the report that about 100 applications for smaller casino licences under the old law are in the pipeline, when the comment by the Bath MP Don Foster was not refuted by Mr Caborn. However, when the Minister was asked again about the one super-casino, he replied that the Act would be implemented on the basis of there being one as the government “were pushed into the position of accepting the idea of one regional casino.” He added that, “…at some stage we need more than one, to allow the impact right across the United Kingdom to be reasonably assessed.”

It is anticipated that both the Gambling Commission and the Advisory Panel will be set up in October this year. The Panel’s report on the 17 locations for 1 regional, 8 small, and 8 large casinos is expected towards the end of 2006. The regeneration factor of a super-casino will be one of the main criteria for judging its placement, and the effect will be closely monitored. Blackpool, a declining seaside resort, is still the name on people’s lips for being granted the regional casino licence, but many other projects, such as the one for Elland Park in Leeds, will put forward strong contending bids.

At present, it appears that the Government will select the location of Britain’s first super-casino between the Advisory Panel’s report being published and the implementation of the Gambling Act 2005 in September 2007, but that the first regional casino will probably not be the last. The winning bid for the first super-casino licence may not get much of a head start on its competitors. (E-06.17.05)

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