Sir Peter Fry, chair of the Bingo Association, has claimed that government speakers at its recent AGM failed to provide answers on deregulation.

He claimed that there are many areas of the government’s draft gambling bill which lack detail and the association is concerned that it should not move forward without proper consultation and consideration.

Fry said: “The association is happy to provide government and the DCMS with a platform as it enables members to hear of thoughts and developments first hand and to raise issues. However, it is apparent from this year’s meeting that it is not only delegates who feel that more questions need to be answered.”

The guest speakers at the event, held on 19 May, were Lord McIntosh of Haringey, DCMS minister with responsibility for gambling; John Greenway MP and Susanna Fitzgerald QC.

Fry said that both Greenway and Fitzgerald questioned the role of local authorities in granting licenses and highlighted the potential for inconsistency and confusion under the scheme.

Fitzgerald also claimed that the government’s planned Gambling Commission would be too powerful, being able to ‘completely change the face of gambling in the UK’ without having to return to Parliament to ratify decisions.

Lord McIntosh criticised a number of studies on gambling problems and said the DCMS would conduct its own research, but Fry claims the dismissal of such studies is an area of great concern.

“The impact of problem gaming cannot be ignored and should not be ‘sexed up’,” said Fry.

“The cost of problem gambling and other addictions can never be fully measured as all those involved with the addict will be affected.

“The existing draft bill refers to the ‘young and vulnerable’ who must be protected and also talks in terms of the ‘informed consumer’, but where is the line that separates the informed consumer from the vulnerable, how robust is that line and how is it to be enforced?” Details: www.bingo-association.com