Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will bring forward proposals to give local authorities additional powers to restrict the clustering of betting shops in their communities and to restrict the number of fixed odds betting terminals; and if he will make a statement.

The government consulted in summer 2014 on a range of planning measures to support our high streets, including bringing in a requirement for a planning application to be made to the local planning authority for any proposed change of use to a betting shop. An announcement on the outcome of this consultation and the next steps will be made in due course.