Casinos In Your Area
1. There are 134 casinos operating in Great Britain. Under the present law, casinos can only be located in 53 'permitted areas' that are set in legislation. Permitted areas were defined in the early 1970s, and were local authority areas, which at that time had populations above 125,000.
2. Under the present law, people who want to open a casino need permission from the Gaming Board (who regulate casino, bingo and larger charity lotteries) and the magistrates. They have to prove that there is unmet demand in the local area when seeking approval.
3. The Gambling Bill will allow applications to be made to open casinos in all local authority areas. Casinos will need at least 750 square metres of customer floor space, and there are three categories of casino premises (small, large and regional) depending on the size of the customer area. Casinos will be allowed to install more gaming machines than under the present law, but their numbers will be capped. Only regional casinos will be allowed to install what have become known as 'Las Vegas' style machines, which have the potential to offer unlimited prizes.
4. There will be a first phase of no more than eight regional casinos. The effects of new regional casinos will be subject to independent evaluation. The Gambling Commission will publish the results of the evaluation and Parliament will then decide whether there should be more regional casinos.
5. If local authorities do not wish new casinos in their area, they can decide not to license any. Clause 157 of the Bill gives licensing authorities power to resolve not to issue premises licences for new casinos in their area. The members of the council (or, in Scotland, the Licensing Board) can pass a resolution not to license new casinos in their area. The resolution will have effect for three years and will be part of their licensing policy. Authorities can pass a resolution having regard to any principle or matter, and are not bound by the three licensing objectives.
6. The resolution can only apply to the grant of future applications for casino premises licences; cannot have effect on casino licences already granted; cannot have effect in relation to a provisional statement already granted for a casino; must apply to all types of casino premises licences (small, large and regional) and may not be taken into account when reviewing a casino licence.
7. If companies wish to build new casinos, they will most likely need planning permission for the new building. However, even if they get planning permission there is no guarantee that they will receive permission to provide gambling. These two systems work separately.
October 2004
|
