TEN Islington councillors have signed an open letter to the prime minister urging gambling law reform to help local authorities prevent the proliferation of betting venues on high streets.

The Islington signatories joined a cross-party group of 280 campaigners and politicians led by Brent East MP Dawn Butler asking Sir Keir Starmer to “scrap” Aim to Permit – a legal stipulation from 2005 that makes it difficult for councils to reject gambling licence applications.

In practice, this law “ties the hands” of local authorities, the letter said, forcing councils to allow new betting venues, “regardless of the clear social harm and local opposition”.

Chair of Islington’s licensing committee Labour councillor Heather Staff, one of the letter’s signatories, told the Tribune: “It’s not about telling people they should never gamble, it is about putting protections in place for residents and asking the gambling industry to step up.

“As chair of licensing I have to judge every application on its own merit, but it’s frustra­ting when we have five or six gambling or betting shops in one small area.”

Cllr Heather Staff wants councils to have more controls over the number of places to bet

If councils were not “hamstrung” by Aim to Permit, there would be more room for “common sense” in terms of where gambling venues should be licensed, Cllr Staff added.

The open letter also pointed out that gambling venues are often “clustered in areas already struggling with deprivation” and can cause harm to the most vulnerable, including those with mental health challenges and young people.

Cllr Staff said there had been a pattern in Islington where there are several gambling venues on Seven Sisters Road and Holloway, but very few in the leafy areas of Barnsbury.

But, she added, there have not been any plans for a new betting shop in the two years that she has been chairing the licensing committee.

Islington feels it takes a robust approach to limiting new gambling venues on its high streets. In the council’s recently renewed Gambling Policy it has implemented “vulnerability zones”, which allow councillors to put the brakes on new venues in certain areas, such as near schools or hospitals.

Cllr Staff added: “I hope this letter can open a conversation. It says to the government that people do think this rule [Aim to Permit] is outdated. It’s not really helping anybody, it doesn’t do anything to enhance the economy but it does put a lot of people in harm’s way.

“There’s a frustration that it has been left this long by successive governments. I know there is a lot of legislation to get through and that takes time, but now is the time to do it.”