From one side of the world to the other, Britain and New Zealand brought new gaming laws in to play on Saturday. In the UK, any adult with current identification will be able to enter a casino and play without going through the 24-hour membership process. This has somewhat levelled the playing field for casinos, as there was no delay on betting at bookmakers’ premises where FOBT play is increasing. In New Zealand the enactment of further restrictions to discourage pokie play also had an October 1st start.

Today the Casino Advisory Panel of five will start the work of assessing the locations for 17 new casino licences (1 Regional, 8 Large and 8 Small). With its report due by the end of 2006, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport will then specify the areas in early 2007 for Parliamentary approval. The Panel will begin by requesting expressions of interest from Local Authorities and will also invite Regional Planning Bodies in England to identify a broad list of locations for the regional casinos. Once Parliament has approved the selected areas, the relevant authorities will be able to run competitions under a code of practice to be issued by the Secretary of State.

Chairman of the Casino Advisory Panel is Professor Stephen Crow, an eminent practitioner of Statutory Planning. The other members of the panel are Christopher Collison, James Froomberg, Neil Mundy and Deep Sagar. None of the appointees has undertaken any significant political activity in the last five years. As Professor Crow commented, "Our work represents an important stage in the implementation of the new Gambling Act. The public will rightly expect that our procedures will be scrupulously fair and that all proposals will be rigorously examined. So this is what we are going to do — fairness and rigorous examination will be our watchwords."

New Zealand is imposing strict measures to discourage excess play on its pokie machines, including pop-up messages that will halt play at least every half-hour, having a maximum of NZ$20 bill acceptors and banning ATM machines from the gaming floor. From Last Saturday all new pokie machines must display details of time played and money lost or won, older machines have until 1 July 2009 to comply.

Back in the U.K., slot machines will no longer be permitted where children could access them, such as fast food outlets, although they will still be able to play low-stake fruit machines at amusement arcades. Casinos will now be allowed to advertise. The social impact of a Regional casino in Britain will take some time to assess. Until applications, not expected until some time in 2007, for the Regional licence are weighed up and a decision made, construction on the proposed site cannot begin. The Government has plenty of time to consider risking the wrath of the anti-gambling lobbies and pressing for more than one Regional casino. It may take its cue from the number of Local Authorities that submit expressions of interest at the start of the whole process. (E-10.03.05)

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