§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the new evidence on the harmful effects on children and young people of the addiction to fruit machines and similar gambling practices and on Her Majesty's Government support for local authorities which are trying to control these activities.
§ Mr. John PattenThe results of the Home Office research study "Amusement Machines: Dependency and Delinquency" published last year showed that very few young people are at risk of becoming dependent on amusement machines and there is no clear evidence of any association between the playing of machines and delinquency. We have received no reliable new evidence to contradict these results or to throw doubt on the conclusion we reached that further legislative controls are therefore not justified.
The Government fully support local authorities in their efforts to ensure the proper control of amusement-with-prizes machines. We issued a circular to all local authorities on 18 November to remind them of the considerable powers already available to them under the Gaming Act 1968 to regulate such machines in their areas. We have also consulted the local authority and trade associations on draft model byelaws controlling, among other things, the opening hours of amusement arcades and it is expected that model byelaws will be available for adoption in the summer.