Bacta Chief Executive John White will be setting-out the impact of the Gambling Reform White Paper on land-based gambling entertainment businesses when he provides evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee on 11th July in the Palace of Westminster.
 
The Committee is chaired by Dame Caroline Dinenage the Conservative MP for Gosport and features a further five MPs from the Tory Party, four Labour MPs as well as John Nicolson of the SNP.
 
Two members, Simon Jupp the MP for East Devon and Giles Watling, Member of Parliament for Clacton, have knowledge of the industry represented by bacta and the contributions it makes to the broader hospitality sector having engaged with operators based in their coastal constituencies.
 
Looking ahead to his appearance in front of a Committee whose remit is to monitor the policy, administration and expenditure of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, John White said: “Immediately after the White Paper was introduced by the Secretary of State on April 28 bacta started the process of consulting with members and subsequently researching the implications/outcomes of the various proposals, specifically the impact of a 50/50 machine ratio, the introduction of modern payment methods and planning on the projected impact of a mandatory levy covering scenarios from 0.1% to 1% of GGY. 
 
“The initial research programme has been completed with bacta members and I will be able to share with the Committee both the empirical findings and our analysis of how the White Paper recommendations will impact inward investment, employment levels, the industry’s support for high street economies and the sustainability of businesses both inland and at the coast.”
 
He added: “The Secretary of State has highlighted the important community contributions made by on-land amusements and low stake gaming entertainment operators and it’s essential that the consultation process enables us to navigate the dangers of getting the implementation of the White Paper recommendations wrong. 
 
“The industry continues to demonstrate its ability to deliver value for money, safe, gambling entertainment and in all of our post White Paper consultations we have stressed the necessity of enabling the industry to be the very best that it can be. Regulation that’s fit for the digital age must, for example, permit operators to offer the payment methods that everyone else does on the high street and which customers expect to have in 2023.”