§ 39. Mr. Fletcherasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has now received the Report of the Peppiatt Committee.
§ Mr. R. A. ButlerYes, Sir. The Report has now been published.
§ Mr. FletcherI have seen the Report which, as the Home Secretary is aware, recommends that there should be a levy on bookmakers amounting to between £1 million and £1¼ million a year and proposes that the levy should be statutory. Will the Home Secretary tell us whether he proposes to introduce Amendments to the Betting and Gaming Bill, recently issued from Committee, to give effect to these recommendations? What are his intentions about that Bill on Report?
§ Mr. ButlerThe position is that we have just published, at 11 a.m. today, the Committee's Report. I should like to express our gratitude to the Chairman and his Committee for the speed with which they have produced the Report. I am also aware of its conclusions. I am not in a position to make an announcement at present, because I wish to obtain a certain amount of reaction to the Report. That is the object of publishing it. I should also like hon. Members to study it. I should not like to come to a conclusion until I have been able to assess a little better opinion on the receipt of this Report.
It is, therefore, not yet clear whether there will be time to introduce Amendments on Report stage of the Bill. That would all depend upon the nature of the Government's announcement, which I will make in due course, trying to give an opportunity and every occasion for the work of the Committee to be furthered. If the House will be patient, I will try to make a statement about this when I have obtained the initial reactions.