[ARCHIVED CONTENT] casino permitted areas

The Gaming Act 1968 regulates casinos in Great Britain. There are over 122 (as at 31/09/02) casinos in England, Scotland, and Wales. The Government does not restrict the number of licences but casinos can be located only in certain areas of the country known as 'permitted areas'. The system of permitted areas was introduced in 1969. It was introduced to reduce the number of casinos to a manageable amount There are 53 areas laid down in the Gaming Clubs (permitted areas) Regulations 1971.

The Gaming Clubs (permitted areas) Regulations 1971 included a formula under which any county borough outside Greater London with a population of 125,000 became a permitted area. When county borough were abolished in 1974, the formula was altered so as to bring in those former county boroughs which had a population of 125,000 or more at any time between 01 December 1970 and 01 October 1973. The list has remained frozen ever since. There is no match between the current local government areas and casino permitted areas.

London - that area which is within the area specified in the licensing (Metropolitan Special Hours Area) Order 1961 - plus the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

Aberdeen
Birkenhead
Birmingham
Blackpool
Bolton
Bournemouth
Bradford
Brighton
Bristol
Cardiff
Coventry
Derby
Dudley
Dundee
Edinburgh
Glasgow
Great Yarmouth
Hove

Huddersfield
Kingston upon Hull
Leeds
Leicester
Liverpool
Luton
Lytham St Annes
Manchester
Margate
Newcastle Upon Tyne
Northampton
Nottingham
Plymouth Porstmouth
Ramsgate
Reading
Ryde
Salford
Sandown/Shanklin
Scarborough
Sheffield
Southampton
Southend-on-Sea
Southport
Stockport
Stoke-on-Trent
Sunderland
Swansea
Teeside/Middlesborough
Torbay
Walsall
Warley
West Bromwich
Wolverhampton

The first step for a would-be casino operator is to obtain a Certificate of Consent from the Gaming Board. An application for a gaming licence can not succeed without this certificate. The Board has to be satisfied that the casino will be able to apply the gaming laws, that any gaming will be fairly and properly conducted and that there is no likelihood of disorder or disturbance on the premises. They take into account the character, reputation, and financial standing of the applicant and any other relevant circumstances. The rules are set out in Schedule 2 paragraph 3 of The Gaming Act 1968.

Once the would-be casino operator has obtained the Gaming Boards' Certificate of Consent he/she can apply for the issue of licence from the Gaming Licensing Committee of the Local Magistrates' Court. This enables a person or company to provide commercial gaming in premises to which the licence relates (i.e. a casino). The licensing committee will consider whether a substantial demand already exists on the part of prospective players for the facilities provided in the area. They can refuse an application if they consider that there is insufficient unmet demand. The mechanisms for dealing with applications for a Gaming Licence are set out in Schedule 2 paragraph 5 of the Gaming Act 1968.

The Government set up an independent review of the gambling laws in 1999. The Gambling Review Report published on 17 July 2001 made 176 recommendations for changes to the current system of control. One of these was that permitted areas should be abolished. The Government has accepted this proposal but the key element of the changes that the Government wishes to make to the gambling laws requires a Bill to be debated in Parliament. The Government intends to proceed with that in 2003/04 if Parliamentary time permits.