Second hand rose
COMMENT
Industry of show-offs
30
ESSENTIAL GUIDE
Second hand rose
12
June 14- June 20, 2013 • No. 2320 • www. coinslot. co. uk
n alternative view
safeguard the future of many thousands of valued community pubs.
“ All members are concerned about increased bureaucracy and expressed the fear that the appointment of a statutory adjudicator could cause unnecessary additional financial burdens, red tape and promotion of the quango culture. Some members, however, believe that a statutory regulator will be necessary in order to address the issues which are referred to above, while others feel that a voluntary system can be made to work.”
all the boxes
BACTA CHIEF WARNS OF PRE-JUDGING CONSULTATION RESULT BACTA believes that the structure of the consultation might result in a failure to address detailed practical issues because the focus is upon the threshold question of whether or not reform is necessary or desirable. The consultation document attempts to deal with the supplementary issue of the detail of any statutory code. Leslie Macleod-Miller stated:“ There is a strong argument that this attempts to pre-judge the result of the consultation and there is a danger that stakeholders will not engage with the detail until there is a clear decision on the primary question of whether or not a code is to be introduced. We therefore have submitted that the fundamental question of whether or not a statutory code is introduced is first determined before there can be an effective consultation on the substantive issue of the content of any code. We have therefore encouraged our members to make individual responses, providing evidence for their perspective regarding the merits of government proposals.”
coin’ s John Stergides, UDC’ s Derek Horwood and a whole host of other industry stalwarts. While it’ s easy to have a smile on one’ s face in the sunshine, the mood was defiantly upbeat, with each and every attendee grasping the opportunity to showcase- or see up close- some of the best products currently available in UK coin-op. Only time will tell how many deals will be finalised, but there was enough talk of‘ the right quality of visitors’ from several circles to point towards a show that, once again, had hit the mark for all concerned.
BACTA responds to Pubs Consultation
CONSULTATION
Trade body BACTA has responded to the government’ s Pub Companies and Tenants consultation with regard to Consumer and Competition Policy.
L eslie Macleod-Miller, chief executive of BACTA, has written to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in response to the government’ s Pub Companies and Tenants consultation.
In the letter, Macleod-Miller states:“ We refer to the consultation and attach our response to the consultation questions.
“ BACTA is responding to the consultation by making general comments concerning the consultation, but wishes to note that there is no uniform view regarding responses to the consultation questions from an industry perspective.
“ Some members believe that the current arrangements regarding the“ machine tie” provide substantial benefits to the tenant to government and the exchequer and to regulatory and licensing authorities including the Gambling Commission because they argue the following:
• In order for a machine supplier to become approved the Pub Companies establish through a thorough and professional tender process the legal and compliant status of suppliers. In this way a tenant has the confidence that by selecting a supplier from an approved list that the supplier is a‘ fit and proper’ company to deal with, has the requisite gambling licences, is run by‘ approved and licensed’ executives and ensuring the three main principles of the 2005 Gambling Act are upheld.
• Removal of the machine tie could open up the pub market to‘ rogue’ and‘ illegal’ operators who could cut corners by, for example,
operating without the required licences, supplying dangerous and poorly maintained equipment with illegal software or operating machines outside of stake and prize controls.
• The standards of performance which are required under the current contractual arrangements ensure that all tenants receive the same level of service and operational support, including in relation to security to protect machines which would no longer
be guaranteed without the machine tie. Removal of the machine tie and associated central management of standards would result in a serious decline in new machine purchases.
• Removal of the machine tie would encourage illegal operators which would distort the market and result in significant job losses, and impact revenue to the Exchequer collected through Corporation Tax, Machine Games Duty and VAT.