This page will be regularly updated with the latest news on premises licensing and how the new rules affect you. We will include details of ongoing and upcoming consultations, and other ways in which you can contribute.
Three-year licensing policy statement consultation
The Gambling Act 2005 regulations came into effect on 31 March 2006.
Thank you to all those who took part in our consultation (22 November 2005 – 24 February 2006). We carefully analysed all the responses and made some amendments to the draft regulations.
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Fees exercises
We hope to re-issue the final Premises Licence Fees Costing Exercises to all licensing authorities in England and Wales shortly (Scotland is responsible for setting its own fees).
These will inform the calculation of the fee bands, whose structure has been amended and simplified following discussion of options via the premises licensing project groups. We will require authorities to submit completed questionnaires to the Department during June 2006.
This will enable us to produce estimated fee bands before undertaking formal consultation shortly after the returns are analysed.
See the original fees exercises via the link 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 wish to distribute this leaflet in hard copy, please contact us at premiseslicensing@culture.gsi.gov.uk.
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Training
We are 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.
We are developing a concise training package with input from the Gambling Commission, local authority representatives, the gambling industry and others. The package will summarise key points from the Gambling Act 2005 and the Gambling Commission guidance to local authorities. It will thus consist of short modules plus case studies and role-play exercises.
This centrally developed training package will provide authorities with flexibility in the timing and delivery of training and help provide consistency of approach for the gambling industry. We therefore encourage authorities to use the package for in-house training or to employ private firms to undertake training based on it.
We intend to publish the training package in summer 2006, following publication of the Gambling Commission guidance to licensing authorities. We will hold pilot sessions to test the effectiveness of the draft training package during June 2006.
Do you have any questions? See the Premises Licensing frequently asked questions, or email us at premiseslicensing@culture.gsi.gov.uk.
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Recent and forthcoming licensing events
May 2006
Institute of Licensing's Gambling Conference held on 17 May 2006 at City University, London. A DCMS official spoke at this event.
