Feb27
Betting and Gaming Council Pledges to Decrease Risk Gambling Rates
UK Government Postpones Casinos Reopening, BGC Sees the Decision as “Deeply Damaging”
August 3, 2020 Aleksandra Zolotic
Following the UK Government’s decision to postpone the reopening of all casinos in England, the industry standards body the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has expressed its “utter dismay.” As stated, the entertainment venues will be closed for at least two weeks.
As a small reminder, the facilities were preparing to re-open from 1 August, but the Government made a “last-minute u-turn” and decided to delay it.
Described the decision as “highly illogical, inconsistent and deeply damaging to those businesses and the thousands of staff they employ,” the Council expressed a high level of disagreement with the sudden course of events.
Pointing out that the strategy for dealing with the situation is “in disarray,” BGC Chief Executive Michael Dugher wrote:
“We were told that the strategy was to move to regional and local lockdowns, yet the Government’s announcement today forces all casinos to remain closed.”
Is the Decision Justified?
The Council also challenged the Prime Minister’s assertion that businesses such as casinos are “higher risk,” describing this charge as “bizarre and quite wrong.”
Casinos have invested heavily…
…to ensure their premises to minimize health risks, with measures such as perspex screens, sanitization equipment, and sophisticated track and trace systems, as well as introducing other changes and strict social distancing measures.
The sector has also been working closely with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport and Public Health England to ensure that all venues were ready to re-open safely from 1 August.
When this entire situation led to closure…
…at the beginning of March, Council has urged the UK Chancellor to provide help to save thousands of jobs in the gambling industry sector.
He also stressed out:
“The from HM Treasury, such as the Job Retention Scheme, has really helped but now our will be forced to pay National Insurance on top of salaries in August while they remain closed. As furlough payments are phased out, there will be no flexibility for casinos to adapt to the new working and leisure environment when they are eventually allowed to reopen.”
Gigantic Contributor
According to Dugher, this decision is a true fiasco and a huge blow for the industry, as the venues have remained closed for nearly 5 months. The sudden u-turn could lead to even greater losses, as operators already struggle with the huge financial costs.
Being a fundamental part of…
…leisure, hospitality, entertainment, and tourism industry, these entertainment facilities employ over 14,000 people and indirectly another 4,000 jobs across the UK. As a small reminder, last year casinos paid over £5.7m million in tax per week.
Dugher also added:
“Casinos want to get back in business and once again contributing to the economy. The DCMS has ed our efforts to get casinos reopened, yet have been excluded from this shambolic decision. Having made the necessary preparations for reopening, we call on the Government to permit casinos to reopen.”
Source:
”Dismay at casino u-turn”, bettingandgamingcouncil.com, July 31, 2020.
Leave a Reply
Related News
The situation is tricky now, it’s hard to be on any side. I mean, if all protection measures are strictly followed, I believe there will be no problems. Then again, people can be very stubborn.