Gambling Act 2005
The Gambling
Act 2005 (external link) provides for three categories of
licence:
Licence Summary
The licensing authority is responsible for licensing premises
that offer facilities for gambling. These gambling facilities are
broken down into six premises licence types. These premises licence
types are:
- Casino premises* (converted, small and large)
- Bingo premises
- Betting tracks premises
- Betting (other) premises (e.g. betting shops)
- Adult gaming centres (AGC's)
- Family entertainment centres (FEC's)
*The Gambling Act 2005 prevents Carlisle City Council from
accepting any applications for new Casino premises licences.
Carlisle City Council was not named as an authority that could
issue small or large casino premises licences under the Act.
When a licence is issued to premises it permits that premises to
be used for that
primary gambling activity (external link, PDF Format).
The Gambling Commission
(external link) is an independent non-department public body who
are sponsored by the government. The Gambling Commission was set up
under the Gambling Act 2005 to regulate commercial gambling in the
Great Britain. The Commission is responsible for issuing and
enforcing operators and personal licences that are issued by them.
They are also responsible for providing advice and guidance to the
trade, local authorities and government on commercial gambling.
As a requirement of the Gambling Act 2005 the Commission must
provide Guidance to local authorities. The local authority will
consider applications after having regard to this guidance.
Applicants should read the relevant parts of the
guidance (external link) before submitting an application. The
licensing authority also issues other forms of authorisation under
this legislation, for example:
- Temporary use of premises
- Occasional use notice
- Unlicensed family entertainment centre
- Prize gaming
- Gaming machines on alcohol licensed premises
- Club gaming
- Club gaming machines
- Small lottery registration
Licence holders, the Council and other agencies must all work to
promote the licensing objectives which are:
- Preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder,
being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support
crime,
- Ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way,
and
- Protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being
harmed or exploited by gambling
Eligibility Criteria
To apply for a premises licence you must
- be 18 years old or older,
- if applying on behalf of a company or partnership be authorised
to make such an application, and
- hold or has applied for an Operators licence from the Gambling
Commission for that gambling activity (unless that occupier of the
track who gets the premises licence may not be the person who
actually offers the gambling),
Application Evaluation Process
Applications must be made using the statutory form. The form
must be completed in full and contain all of the relevant
information requested in the form. For new applications,
provisional statements and variations to change the layout of an
existing premises licence plans must also accompany the
application.
Applicants must also serve a notice of their application on each
responsible authority. A list of these responsible authorities
along with their addresses and contact information is
available.
Applications for new, provisional statements or variations of
existing licences must be advertised and are open to responsible
authorities and the public to make representations. The
consultation period for these application types are 28 calendar
days from the day the application is received by the Licensing
Authority. Applicants must place a public notice on the premises
and advertise the application in a local newspaper.
An application must be accompanied by the correct fee.
Each premises licence that is issued by the authority will be
subject to the Mandatory or Default conditions associated with that
gambling activity. The Mandatory and Default conditions are as set
out in the Gambling
Act 2005 (Mandatory and Default Conditions) (England and Wales)
Regulations 2007 (external link).
Mandatory conditions can not be varied or removed in any way.
However, applicants for new licences can request in their
application to have the default conditions either removed from the
licence or amended. For existing licensees a variation application
is required to make changes or remove these default conditions.