12/10/2016

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:00:00. > :00:08.Tonight's headlines: A Welsh MP calls for a review of fixed odds

:00:09. > :00:16.And are you one of the landlords who could soon be breaking the law?

:00:17. > :00:18.With weeks to go, thousands still aren't registered

:00:19. > :00:40.They generate billions of pounds for the gambling industry

:00:41. > :00:43.but tonight, there's a claim that some betting game machines

:00:44. > :00:47.are causing serious damage to Welsh communities.

:00:48. > :00:50.The Welsh MP who's leading an inquiry into the fixed odds

:00:51. > :00:54.terminals is now calling for a UK government review of the machines,

:00:55. > :00:57.which are found in bookmakers across the country.

:00:58. > :01:01.With this special report, here's Gareth Bryer.

:01:02. > :01:04.They're a central part of the gambling industry -

:01:05. > :01:08.fixed odds betting terminals - touch-screen machines

:01:09. > :01:11.where you can play casino games, like roulette or blackjack,

:01:12. > :01:15.electronic slot games and virtual racing.

:01:16. > :01:19.But unlike other slot machines, you can stake up to ?100 a bet.

:01:20. > :01:22.After almost 50 years of problem gambling,

:01:23. > :01:24.for this man, who wanted to remain anonymous,

:01:25. > :01:30.His words are spoken by a member of our production team.

:01:31. > :01:34.My son watched me put ?1500 in the machines one day

:01:35. > :01:36.and he was physically shaking alongside me.

:01:37. > :01:41.Once you're in that zone, nothing matters around you -

:01:42. > :01:45.there's nothing that's more important than that machine,

:01:46. > :01:47.like making you play, put more money in.

:01:48. > :01:52.Now, a Swansea MP and chair of the Parliamentary group looking

:01:53. > :01:56.at the machines says the government needs to do something.

:01:57. > :02:00.We need to have an overhaul and review and hopefully come up

:02:01. > :02:05.with a solution which will not suit the bookies but will help

:02:06. > :02:08.all the associated problems with these machines.

:02:09. > :02:11.When the bookies were on the high street and they were just doing

:02:12. > :02:15.horse racing and dog racing, they were a part of the fabric

:02:16. > :02:18.of a community, but now they've become the scourge of the community.

:02:19. > :02:24.The betting terminals first appeared in 1999 and, last year,

:02:25. > :02:29.customers across the UK lost a total of ?1.7 billion playing them.

:02:30. > :02:32.Betting shops are restricted to four machines and,

:02:33. > :02:38.as things stand, there are over 1400 terminals across Wales.

:02:39. > :02:40.The UK Government has indicated it will conduct a review

:02:41. > :02:45.of the machines and the maximum stake people can bet.

:02:46. > :02:48.The industry accepts that that review is likely but say bookies'

:02:49. > :02:59.It's very easy for the antigambling lobby to make really quite strong

:03:00. > :03:04.These machines have been in shops for 15 years and they've

:03:05. > :03:08.When the evidence comes before government, they come

:03:09. > :03:12.to the same conclusion - that they should be there.

:03:13. > :03:14.It was losing the money he'd saved for his grandchildren's Christmas

:03:15. > :03:19.presents that prompted this problem gambler to break his habit.

:03:20. > :03:22.I've been gamble-free for two years but the addiction of gambling

:03:23. > :03:28.It will never disappear and the thought of going

:03:29. > :03:31.into a betting shop is frightening because I know if I walk back

:03:32. > :03:33.into a betting shop, those machines will make me

:03:34. > :03:38.He made a break from his past but for other individuals

:03:39. > :03:41.and an industry that's still at the heart of our high

:03:42. > :03:47.A former Scout leader, who's already in jail for abusing

:03:48. > :03:50.boys in the 1960s and 70s, has been given a further

:03:51. > :03:56.Mold Crown Court heard how more victims of 70-year-old Martyn Tucker

:03:57. > :04:00.came forward after seeing news reports of the previous case.

:04:01. > :04:03.North Wales Police said they were horrific crimes and that

:04:04. > :04:05.Tucker destroyed the childhood of his young victims.

:04:06. > :04:08.The design of Swansea's Kingsway was a contributory factor

:04:09. > :04:11.in the death of a 41-year-old woman, an inquest has heard.

:04:12. > :04:15.Sergeant Louise Lucas died in March 2015 after being hit from behind

:04:16. > :04:19.by a bus when she attempted to cross the road.

:04:20. > :04:22.A road safety expert said it was likely Mrs Lucas momentarily

:04:23. > :04:26.forgot about the unconventional layout of the Kingsway.

:04:27. > :04:28.Since her death, metal barriers have been placed along

:04:29. > :04:36.British Airways has confirmed it's consulting on plans to cut 66 jobs

:04:37. > :04:38.at its maintenance base at Cardiff Airport.

:04:39. > :04:41.The company says it's begun talks with staff and unions

:04:42. > :04:47.about restructuring proposals to deliver a sustainable service.

:04:48. > :04:50.There are fears that thousands of landlords will soon be breaking

:04:51. > :04:54.the law when a new central licensing scheme comes into place.

:04:55. > :04:57.Welsh Government figures suggest only one in four landlords have

:04:58. > :05:01.undertaken the Rent Smart Wales training with the deadline

:05:02. > :05:08.Here's our economics correspondent, Sarah Dickins.

:05:09. > :05:12.Ffion Paschalis works for a Cardiff letting agency and shows me

:05:13. > :05:20.The landlord has ten or 12 properties altogether.

:05:21. > :05:24.He's converted this building into eight self-contained flats.

:05:25. > :05:26.A mixture of two and one bedroom flats.

:05:27. > :05:29.So that's someone who would be counted as a professional landlord?

:05:30. > :05:33.Landlords and agents have to register within six weeks.

:05:34. > :05:37.A central licensing scheme, Rent Smart Wales, has been set up

:05:38. > :05:42.The scheme involves landlords being trained about their obligations

:05:43. > :05:46.and responsibilities online or in a classroom and they get

:05:47. > :05:52.Another option is not do the training, pay for a letting

:05:53. > :05:55.agent but still register as a landlord.

:05:56. > :06:00.Many landlords do not see themselves as businesses.

:06:01. > :06:03.They just let out a home they've inherited or grown out of.

:06:04. > :06:07.I fully agree with protecting tenants but there's not an awful lot

:06:08. > :06:09.sometimes to protect landlords because there's an assumption

:06:10. > :06:15.every landlord is bad and they have multiple properties.

:06:16. > :06:20.I don't think Rent Smart has done a good job in helping to encourage

:06:21. > :06:25.This is one of many events in which landlords are being

:06:26. > :06:31.It takes eight weeks to be trained and registered for the scheme

:06:32. > :06:34.so with six weeks before the government's deadline and three

:06:35. > :06:39.quarters of landlords in Wales not registered that's quite a challenge.

:06:40. > :06:41.The Residential Landlords Association says it advised

:06:42. > :06:45.the Welsh government against this type of licensing.

:06:46. > :06:49.It's incredibly bureaucratic and has proven not to be successful

:06:50. > :06:56.Scotland hasn't taken up more than 15% of the problems.

:06:57. > :06:58.The Welsh government hopes the scheme will increase

:06:59. > :07:01.the reputation of the private sector here and attract more

:07:02. > :07:12.There are a fair few accidental landlords in particular who have

:07:13. > :07:17.maybe inherited property who aren't aware they have the same obligation

:07:18. > :07:21.as someone who has maybe a hundred properties.

:07:22. > :07:24.The fear is those people may find themselves the wrong side

:07:25. > :07:31.Carmarthenshire County Council will write to an oil company,

:07:32. > :07:34.calling for a six-figure sum in compensation after a pipeline

:07:35. > :07:40.ruptured near the A48, releasing 140,000 litres of kerosene.

:07:41. > :07:42.Valero is responsible for the pipeline, which runs

:07:43. > :07:50.This weekend, the A48 will be closed for repair work.

:07:51. > :07:52.Cardiff won't host a marathon until 2018 - a year later

:07:53. > :07:59.Ten days ago, Run 4 Wales announced they would host a full marathon next

:08:00. > :08:04.April but they now say they don't want to rush planning a route.

:08:05. > :08:13.Derek, it's still feeling chilly out there?

:08:14. > :08:25.It will be even cooler tomorrow with an easterly wind bringing one or two

:08:26. > :08:27.showers, some sunshine as well. One or two showers about the night

:08:28. > :08:48.otherwise, a dry story. Clear in the south and west and chilly,

:08:49. > :08:51.down to five Celsius. We still have our blocking area of high pressure

:08:52. > :08:53.over Scandinavia. That means easterly winds, one or two showers.

:08:54. > :08:56.Otherwise dry. The best of the sunshine in the south and west.

:08:57. > :08:59.Across the rest of the UK, showers will spread westwards in the UK. Dry

:09:00. > :09:01.in the South of England, sunny spells there, sunshine in the North

:09:02. > :09:04.West of Scotland. A cool easterly breeze tomorrow. Closer to home, a

:09:05. > :09:11.mixture of sunshine and scattered showers. One or two shop showers.

:09:12. > :09:17.Parts of the South and West will stay dry with sunshine. Cooler

:09:18. > :09:22.tomorrow, 10-13dC. Scattered showers will die away to leave a dry night,

:09:23. > :09:24.mist and fog patches forming and cold enough for a touch of ground

:09:25. > :09:50.frost. The Wales Report is up next

:09:51. > :09:53.but that's Wales Today. From everyone on the team,

:09:54. > :10:00.goodnight.