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Premises Licensing
Introduction
The Gambling Bill received Royal Assent on 7th April 2005 becoming the Gambling Act 2005 (the Act).
You can view the Act at http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2005.htm
You can also view the Explanatory Notes which accompany the Act at
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/expa2005.htm
The Act gives responsibility for the licensing of gambling premises to licensing authorities in England and Wales, and licensing boards in Scotland.
This page will be regularly updated with the latest news on Premises Licensing.
Three-Year Licensing Policy Statement Consultation
The Department has published a Consultation Document on the draft Regulations regarding the three-year licensing policy statements to be made by licensing authorities under section 349 of the Gambling Act 2005.
The closing date for this consultation is Friday 24th February 2006.
Fees Exercises
The Department recently issued Premises Licence Fees Costing Exercises to all licensing authorities in England and Wales to explore the costs involved in the licensing and regulation of gambling premises.
We were advised that to assist with budgetary preparation, authorities would require estimated fee bands in January 2006. As such, the exercises were distributed early with this requirement in mind.
The level of responses to these exercises was low- DCMS received 11 completed questionnaires- which is not considered to be a sufficiently representative sample on which to produce estimated fee bands.
DCMS is mindful, however, that authorities have recently had a number of competing pressures on their time, including the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003.
DCMS has also been involved in discussions with the gambling industry regarding the structure of the fee bands to ensure that particular industry sectors are not disproportionately affected by the use of Non-Domestic Rateable value, for example. As part of these discussions, DCMS is exploring a number of alternative options for the structure of the fee bands.
DCMS hopes to set out the structure of the bands (if changes to the current structure prove necessary) by the end of January 2006. Following this, DCMS will re-issue the fees exercises to licensing authorities in England and Wales in order to inform the calculation of the fee bands.
DCMS would like to thank all the authorities who returned completed exercises: the data provided will be taken into account when we re-examine the results next year (of course authorities may submit revised estimates if they wish to do so).
You can access a copy of the exercises via the link below:
Premises Licence Fees Costing Exercises PDF (228kb)
More information about the setting of premises licence fees can be found in the following document - Premises Fee Announcement PDF (117kb)
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Implementation
DCMS published an introductory note on the Implementation of the Act in July 2005, which you can view at Gambling Act 2005: Introductory note on implementation PDF (61kb)
More detailed timescales relating to the implementation of the Act are due to be published shortly.
E-mail updates
DCMS has started to produce a series of short e-mails giving updates on the latest news on gambling premises licensing. While these updates are open to all with an interest in gambling premises licensing, they may be of particular benefit to licensing officers and members sitting on Licensing Committees.
If you would like to be added to this list, please complete our subscription form by clicking on the 'Subscribe' button below.
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Gambling Leaflet
In July 2005, DCMS produced a new leaflet to provide licensing authorities with further information about the Gambling Act 2005 and its implementation. You can view the leaflet at
Gambling Act 2005: What it means for licensing authorities PDF (131k)
If you are interested in receiving a quantity of this leaflet to distribute further, please get in touch.
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Recent and Forthcoming Events
March 2006
Richard Caborn will be the keynote speaker at a conference entitled "Gambling Reform and Local Government" to be held in London on 1 March 2006. A DCMS official will also speak at this event.
May 2006
Richard Caborn will also be the keynote speaker at the Institute of Licensing's Gambling Conference to be held on 17 May 2006 at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea's Main Hall.
A DCMS official will also speak at this event.
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Training
The Department has been working closely with a number of organisations, including the Local Government Association (LGA), Local Authorities Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS) and Institute of Licensing (IoL) among others, to identify and assess training needs for licensing officers and councillors.
To this end, DCMS will co-ordinate the development of a comprehensive training package with input from the Gambling Commission, local authority representatives, the gambling industry and others. Authorities can then use the package for in-house training or employ private firms to undertake training based on it.
It is hoped that a centrally developed training package will provide authorities with flexibility in the timing and delivery of training and will also assist in providing consistency of approach to the gambling industry.
DCMS hopes to publish the training package by the end of May 2006, after holding pilot sessions to road test its effectiveness during March 2006. If you would like to participate in the training pilots, please get in touch.
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Responsible Authorities
Section 157 of the Act lists certain organisations as "responsible authorities". These responsible authorities have particular rights to be involved and/or consulted in relation to applications for premises licences and other procedures under the Act. The Commission is a responsible authority, as are the police.
In January 2005, the Department held a seminar with a number of organisations who will become responsible authorities under the Act. The seminar included presentations on the Gambling Bill, the Gambling Commission and also a presentation from LACORS on how licensing authorities will work with responsible authorities. The slides from these presentations can be found below.
Gambling - DCMS Responsible Authority seminar - 31 Jan 05 PDF (1.5mb)
Gambling Bill Responsible Authorities Seminar PDF (75kb)
Those attending found the event useful and informative, and the Department plans to hold similar events in the future. If you would like to be invited to a future event please get in touch.
Got any questions? Have a look at the Premises Licensing frequently asked questions or drop us an e-mail at premiseslicensing@culture.gsi.gov.uk
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