High street chains are failing to give levels of donations earmarked for charity

Bookmakers have failed to come up with a sum promised to charity.

Bookmakers agreed to hand over 0.1% of their revenues voluntarily as part of a deal when the last Labour government deregulated the industry in 2005.

But the recommended recipient GambleAware received just £9.6million last year – £400,000 short of its £10 million target.

A report in the Sunday Mail this weekend highlighted that some gambling firms were not meeting their commitments, despite high salaries for their bosses.

Bet365, which made operating profits of £660.3million last year on a turnover of £2.86billion, donated just £868,000 to GambleAware. The firm’s chief executive Denise Coates was paid £265 million in 2017.

Paddy Power Betfair gave £445,000 to the GambleAware fund. It reported an 18% increase in “full-year underlying ­earnings” to £473 million in 2017 on revenues of £1.74 billion. William Hill gave £1 million to GambleAware. It made an operating profit of £234million on revenues of £1.6 billion.

A statement from GambleAware said it required a minimum of £10 million to deliver its plans to support those with gambling addictions.

The statement said: “For GambleAware to continue to meet its existing commitments and complete the successful delivery of its current two-year strategic delivery plan, the charity will require the gambling industry to donate a minimum of £10 million in the 12 months to 31 March 2020.

“We therefore ask all those who profit from the gambling industry in Great Britain, whether or not they hold a licence from the Gambling Commission, to donate a minimum of 0.1% of their Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) directly to GambleAware.”

The Department of Digital, ­Culture, Media and Sport said: “If it turns out that the voluntary system is not capable of meeting current and future needs, we will look at alternatives – everything is on the table.”