HORSE RACING AND BETTING (NORTHERN IRELAND) ORDER 1976

HL Deb 15 June 1976 vol 373 cc471-5

4.44 p.m.

Lord DONALDSON of KINGSBRIDGE rose to move, That the draft Horse Racing and Betting (Northern Ireland) Order 1976, laid before the House on 22nd June, be approved. The noble Lord said: My Lords, your Lordships will know that in all, or almost all, of the countries renowned for an interest in horseracing this sport has been unable to survive and prosper without some form of outside support. In Great Britain, this support has been based on the principle of contribution by bookmakers, and this order proposes to extend this principle to Northern Ireland. To this end, the order seeks to establish a fund to be used for the maintenance and development of horseracing in Northern Ireland. The fund will be supported by charges imposed on all bookmakers operating in the Province, and the proceeds will be devoted to one racecourse at Down Royal.

There are, at the moment, two race-courses in Northern Ireland, Down Royal and Downpatrick, and both have received a small amount of Government assistance for some time. Although this assistance has been sufficient to keep them open, it has not enabled either of them to develop. In 1972, a Working Party made up of representatives of bookmakers and racecourse managers recommended that a fund should be set up to improve the standard of racing. Your Lordships will realise why it was not possible for the Government to increase this assistance in these times of financial stringency. Therefore, the Government had to make a difficult choice: we had to decide how to raise more money and whether this money was to be spent on one or both racecourses. In 1973, officials of the Jockey Club were asked to inspect both courses and they advised that all available resources should be concentrated at Down Royal, which had much greater potential than Downpatrick.

I should explain that Down Royal, also known as the Maze, is situated about 15 miles South-West of Belfast and was incorporated by Royal Charter of James II in 1685. The course consists of 187 acres of good quality land. It has two tracks, one for steeplechase racing and the other a combined flat and hurdle track. Both are about two miles in length. Although its amenities are much in need of improvement, its potential is considerable and, for these reasons, we agreed with the Jockey Club officials that we should concentrate our efforts and resources on improving Down Royal.

It was for this apparent discrimination in favour of Down Royal that the order was deemed to be hybrid. Your Lordships will be glad to know that no Petitions have been lodged against this order. I can assure this House that these measures have been the subject of lengthy discussions over the past 10 years with bookmakers and the management of both racecourses, and there is general agreement to our proposals.

The order will establish a fund for the purpose of assisting racing at Down Royal, and it will be financed by imposing annual charges of £75 on each bookmaking office and £5 on each on-course bookmaker. This will initially raise about £22,000 per year. The order also permits the Department of Agriculture to alter these charges by subordinate legislation after it has fully consulted the bookmakers. Since only one racecourse is involved, the administrative burden will be light and will not warrant the setting up of a statutory board as in Great Britain. This order therefore authorises the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture to administer the fund and to ensure that it will be used only for the authorised purposes.

At the moment, excise duties payable in Northern Ireland by bookmakers on their bookmaking and bookmaking office licences are £5 and £50 per year respectively. In Great Britain, where off-course bookmakers already contribute to racing, both cost £1 per year with an "entrance fee" of £100 for new bookmakers. The order will reduce the duties payable in Northern Ireland to the levels paid in Great Britain. The loss to the Northern Ireland Consolidated Fund income will be offset, because the Government will cease to pay the assistance grants to both racecourses.

As a result of this order, bookmakers in Northern Ireland will contribute a substantial sum towards the administration and upkeep of racing at Down Royal. Therefore, the order also gives Northern Ireland bookmakers representation on the management committee of Down Royal so that they will have some influence on how the money is spent. I believe that by placing Down Royal on a sound financial footing, this order will stimulate an already growing interest in horses and horse breeding in Northern Ireland and will, at the same time, facilitate the development of a valuable and sociable amenity. My Lords, I beg to move.

Moved, That the draft Horse Racing and Betting (Northern Ireland) Order 1976, laid before the House on 22nd June be approved.—(Lord Donaldson of Kings-bridge.)

4.49 p.m.

Lord BELSTEAD

My Lords, this order is of some importance because, as the noble Lord reminded us in his closing words, Northern Ireland has been a source of first-class bloodstock for horses for many years. I should just like to ask some questions and, if the noble Lord cannot answer them—because I did not give him notice of them—perhaps he will write to me afterwards. That does not alter the fact that I shall certainly support the passage of the order. Article 6 refers to the powers to enter on to land, and it occurred to me that I would listen to the noble Lord to hear whether there had been any discussions with the Northern Ireland National Farmers' Union. I wonder whether the noble Lord could give me an answer to that question. He said that there had been lengthy discussions with the bookmakers with regard to the charges to be made on them for the fund, but he did not say whether the bookmakers were in agreement with the introduction of this order.

Lord DONALDSON of KINGSBRIDGE

My Lords, I think that I did.

Lord BELSTEAD

My Lords, I did not hear the noble Lord say whether agreement had been reached with the bookmakers and I should be interested to know whether their agreement has been obtained. I understood from the noble Lord's speech that when the Jockey Club visited Northern Ireland the discussions were with the Government—presumably with—the Northern Ireland Office and the Department of Agriculture in Northern Ireland. May I ask whether there were any other discussions? Presumably there were discussions with the Downpatrick racecourse authorities. Finally, the noble Lord referred to the assistance grant which will now cease to be paid so far as both Down Royal and Downpatrick are concerned. Does that mean that the Downpatrick racecourse now receives no outside assistance, and are we to infer that the future of the Downpatrick racecourse is now uncertain?

Lord DONALDSON of KINGS-BRIDGE

My Lords, if I may take the noble Lord's last point first, the answer is, Yes. We had very long discussions which I myself conducted about 18 months ago. We decided that it was best to concentrate upon having one racecourse which was effective and, very reluctantly, the people at Downpatrick accepted this decision. I do not think that they will necessarily accept the decision for ever. It has been made clear to me that they are not anxious to hold up the legislation we are putting through now on those grounds, although I do not know that they necessarily abandon all hope of making Downpatrick viable once more. However, the answer to the noble Lord's question is that by removing the small subsidy which was paid we do not see how Downpatrick can be viable.

With regard to entering upon land, I am not aware that there have been discussions with the Ulster Farmers' Union. All the discussions have been handled by the Department of Agriculture who are very close to the Ulster Farmers' Union, and I do not think any point has arisen which they have thought necessary to discuss with the farmers. If any such point had arisen, certainly they would have done so; there are no inhibitions on that account that I am aware of. The Jockey Club discussions were set up with the agreement of the racecourse owners and took place with all interested parties, including the bookmakers and the Government.

I think that those are the only points which the noble Lord asked me to deal with. I should like to say that I am very happy to see that something has emerged in the form of legislation. Discussions have gone on, and on, and on. For a long time the bookmakers were not prepared to agree, but finally they did so. Let us get through the legislation while the bookmakers still agree.

On Question, Motion agreed to.