The number of betting shops and bingo halls in Carmarthenshire has reduced by nearly a third in the last three years, reflecting a shift from bricks and mortar gambling to online, a meeting has heard.

Council licensing officers have reviewed the authority’s gambling policy and recommended no major changes but they acknowledged that nearly half of respondents to a consultation felt there were gambling-related problems in their area.

Licensing officer Emyr Jones told the council’s licensing committee there were 18 betting shops, bingo halls, adult gaming centres, horse-racing tracks, and family entertainment centres in the county compared to 26 three years ago. Eleven of the 18 were betting shops, four fewer than in 2022.

A committee report said a further review of the policy was likely after the UK’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport completed its own review of the 2005 Gambling Act. The previous Conservative government published a white paper in 2023 setting out a range of proposals to reform gambling regulation.

Mr Jones said there has been a shift to online gambling but didn’t have any “hard and fast” statistics about the turnover of bricks and mortar gambling venues in Carmarthenshire.

Cllr Ken Howell asked what online gambling controls there were and said he’d heard stories of children becoming involved and getting into debt. Mr Jones said the government’s white paper was looking at improving online safeguarding.

The council’s gambling policy consultation only led to 24 responses, including one from a licence-holder. It found that 46% of respondents felt there were gambling-related problems in their area. Just under a third of respondents felt gambling by children, young people, and other vulnerable people was a problem in their area. But 83% said they weren’t aware of problems as a result of gambling premises close to schools, sixth form colleges, children’s play areas, and treatment centres for drug, alcohol, and other addictions.

One person who responded said betting shops were “the tip of the iceberg” compared to online gambling but were “the first step for many people”.

Another respondent felt the UK’s approach to gambling was irresponsible. “Why would poorer communities such as Llanelli need more places where they can literally throw away money,” they said. “I’m not against gambling as a whole but the TV adverts and online advertising is out of hand and encouraging poor financial decisions.”

A third person said: “There are at least two gambling premises in Ammanford where as a member of the public I have observed people losing money they did not have – also when people have won money they have got drunk/drugs with the winnings.”