Background to the Gambling Act 2005
The Gambling Act 2005 replaces most of the existing law about gambling in Great Britain and puts in place an improved, more comprehensive structure of gambling regulation. This includes a new structure of flexible protections for children and vulnerable adults and, in particular, brings the burgeoning Internet gaming sector within British regulation for the first time. It creates a new independent regulatory body, the Gambling Commission, which will be the new, tough national regulator for commercial gambling in Great Britain.
The Act also allows for a controlled increase in the number of casinos in Great Britain. There will be a maximum of 17 new style casinos, whose locations will be proposed by an independent advisory panel. Existing casinos will be able to continue broadly as now. These new casinos will be significant leisure developments that will bring jobs and improved leisure facilities where they are wanted. But the Act also puts in place a strong role for local authorities in licensing gambling premises in their area, and authorities will be able to resolve not to license any new casinos in their area if they do not want them.
Implementation
The target for full implementation of the Act is 1 September 2007. DCMS is working with the Gambling Commission, local authorities, problem gambling charities and the industry to make sure we get implementation of the Act right.
In conjunction with the Scottish Executive we have prepared an introductory note on implementation - Gambling Act 2005: Introductory note on implementation PDF (61kb)
Further announcements about the implementation of the Gambling Act 2005 will also be published on this website, including detailed plans which we hope to publish shortly. Existing legislation on gambling, and arrangements for its licensing and regulation, continue to have effect.
Regulatory Impact Assessment
A Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) of the Gambling Act was published by DCMS on 21 April 2005.
The Gambling Act Regulatory Impact Assessment on this website replaces an earlier version of the document which had an error in the 7th bullet point in paragraph 9 of the Casino Market Competition Assessment (page 86).
Publications and other materials related to the Gambling Review Body, the Draft Gambling Bill and the Gambling Bill are available from the Publications archive.
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