Bacta vows to fight any plan to fund high-street relief from AGCs

The British Amusement Catering Trade Association (Bacta) has pledged to fight any government attempt to fund high-street tax relief by imposing further costs on Adult Gaming Centres (AGCs).

Bacta confirmed to SBC News its position after Prime Minister Andy Burnham named AGCs alongside vape shops as “socially harmful” in comments to the media.

“Bacta will oppose any attempt to make AGCs pay for relief awarded to other high street businesses. Pubs, clubs and music venues deserve support, but that support should not be funded by imposing further costs on another lawful, licensed and heavily taxed sector,” said Allaster Gair, Director of Communications at Bacta.

“AGCs already pay Machine Games Duty, irrecoverable VAT, business rates, statutory levy contributions and substantial compliance costs,” Gair said, adding that singling out the sector “would be arbitrary, economically damaging and particularly harmful to independent and family-owned operators.”

Government plan behind the dispute

The comments follow Burnham’s “Burnham means business” plan, which proposes a 20% business rate relief for pubs, clubs and live music venues, set to take effect in April 2027. Funding for the relief has been confirmed to come partly from vape shops.

AGCs are not named directly in the written plan, though Burnham’s remarks to media raised the possibility that the sector could also be tapped as a funding source.

Bacta challenges the “Harmful” label

Gair called Burnham’s characterization of AGCs as anti-social establishments “a sweeping and unsupported characterisation” and urged a distinction between individual operator failures and the performance of the sector overall.

“AGCs are adult-only, alcohol-free, staffed, supervised and subject to licensing by both the Gambling Commission and local authorities. They operate under strict rules on customer interaction, self-exclusion, age verification and safer gambling,” Gair said.

“Gambling harm must be addressed seriously, but individual harm, operator failure and harm to a local community are not the same thing. Where standards are breached, enforcement should be targeted at the operator responsible. It should not be used to justify collective punishment of an entire sector,” Gair added.

Levy figures cited to support Bacta’s case

Gair pointed to government figures showing AGC Gross Gaming Yield (GGY) is lower than that of other licensed gambling sectors, including retail casinos, bookmaker shops and online gambling businesses, and invited the government to produce evidence for its claim.

“The government’s own statutory levy places AGCs at 0.2% of Gross Gambling Yield, below casinos, LBOs and most online gambling businesses. That is difficult to reconcile with the suggestion that AGCs are among the most harmful businesses to society,” Gair said.

“The evidence shows a regulated, tax-paying sector that supports jobs, occupies premises and contributes to local economies. The government should publish the evidence for any claim to the contrary,” he added.