Gambling In Your Area
1. The Gambling Bill will change the way in which premises for gambling are licensed. At present, in England and Wales, premises like betting offices and casinos are licensed by the local magistrates court. In Scotland, the local Licensing Board is responsible.
2. When the Gambling Bill is implemented, responsibility for licensing premises, in England and Wales, will transfer to your local authority. In Scotland, the local Licensing Board will continue to do the job. In the Bill these bodies are known as local licensing authorities. They will license betting offices, bingo premises, and casinos. They will also license premises with gaming machines, which are known as either family entertainment centres (which have machines that children can use) or adult gaming centres (for over 18s only).
3. Licensing authorities will receive guidance from the new national regulator for gambling, the Gambling Commission, about the way in which they should license premises. The Bill requires them to take account of this guidance, but they will also have their own licensing policy that will explain how they intend to go about their responsibilities.
4. Licensing authorities will be required to consider applications for premises licences in accordance with the guidance from the Commission and their policy, and having regard to the Bill's three licensing objectives. Those objectives are:
- Fairness to the consumer;
- Prevention of crime and disorder, and;
- Protection of children and vulnerable adults from harm or exploitation by gambling.
5. Licensing authorities may reject individual applications having had regard to these matters. When the authority considers applications for new premises, local residents and local businesses will be able to make representations (and have people act on their behalf). If local people or businesses are opposed to the new development they will need to provide evidence of how they believe it will impact negatively on the licensing objectives, or is contrary to Gambling Commission guidance or the licensing authority's policy.
6. If local people or businesses, or other responsible authorities make representations, then the authority will likely hold a public hearing to consider the application. Following the hearing, they can grant or reject the application, or grant the application with conditions that are designed to protect the licensing objectives. The Bill gives rights of appeal to both the person making the application and persons who decide to make representations, and are not content with the authority's decisions. Authorities can also review and revoke premises licences, if there is evidence that licensees are breaching their licence conditions.
7. Casinos are a special case and the Bill gives licensing authorities the power not to issue casino premises licenses in their area. The licensing authority may take into account any principle or matter in making its decision. These provisions are explained in more detail in Factsheet 5.
October 2004
|
