Worthing Borough Council

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• WBC's Gambling Licence & Permit Fees
• WBC's Statement of Gambling Licensing Policy

Gambling

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The Gambling Act 2005 - a brief guide

The Gambling Act 2005 came into force in September 2007. The Act comprehensively updated existing gambling laws that were several decades old, providing new powers and protections for both new and old forms of gambling.

Fundemental to the act are three Licensing Objectives:

• Keeping gambling crime free
• Making sure that gambling is fair and open
• Protecting children and vulnerable adults

These are underpinned by:

• Social responsibility and protection of the public, especially children and the vulnerable.

This remains the top priority.

• Creating a new regime, which has at its heart firm but fair regulation allowing people to enjoy gambling responsibly, encourages an important industry to thrive by behaving responsibly, and protects the vulnerable. A robust regime is good for players, providers and investors.
• Close, open and consultative working with all stakeholders – the industry; faith, belief and community groups; researchers; those dealing day to day with problem gamblers.

The Act covers two main activities:

• Providing facilities for gambling
• Using premises for gambling

Anyone engaged in either of the above two activities must hold the appropriate permission. Permission may come from a licence, permit, or registration granted according to the Act, or from an exemption given by the Act.

The Act established the Gambling Commission as the unified regulator for gambling in Great Britain and a new licensing regime for commercial gambling (operated and regulated by the Commission or by the licensing authorities, the Council, depending on what is being licensed).

The Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act 1963, the Gaming Act 1968 and the Lotteries and Amusements Act 1976 were all repealed by the Gambling Act.

The Gambling Commission

The Gambling Commission is a powerful regulator with powers to enforce strict codes of responsibility. It regulates all commercial gambling in Great Britain, except:

• Spread betting Currently regulated by the Financial Services Authority
• The National Lottery regulated by the National Lottery Commission

The Gambling Commission replaced the old Gaming Board for Great Britain in regulating gaming and certain lotteries and is responsible for regulating betting and remote gaming in Great Britain. 

Three objectives underpin all the work of the Commission and licensing authorities, and are central to the regulatory regime:

• Keeping gambling crime free
• Making sure that gambling is fair and open
• Protecting children and vulnerable adults from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

The Act provides protection for children and vulnerable adults from the effects of harmful gambling through a number of specific offences that prevent children and young people from being given access to inappropriate or harmful gambling opportunities.

In particular, it is an offence to invite or permit a child or a young person to gamble contrary to the provisions of the Act.

The Gambling Commission has a duty to promote socially responsible gambling through licence conditions and codes of practice directed at those providing facilities for gambling. Sharing with local licensing authorities, the Council, responsibility for granting gaming and betting permissions.

The Act also provides powers for the Commission to void bets that are unfair, for example due to cheating. Whilst a Gambling Appeals Tribunal has been established to hear appeals against decisions made by the Commission. Magistrates' Courts will hear appeals against decisions made by the licensing authority.

Licensing

Authority to provide facilities for gambling is subject to varying degrees of regulation, depending on:

• Type of gambling
• Means by which it is conducted
• People by whom and to whom it is offered

The Act removed from licensing justices all responsibility for granting gaming and betting permissions. Instead, the Gambling Commission and licensing authorities, the Council, between them have responsibility for all those matters previously regulated by licensing justices.

Worthing Borough Council as the local authority has powers to license gambling premises within the borough, as well as undertaking functions in relation to lower stake gaming machines and clubs.

The Commission is responsible for granting operating and personal licences to commercial gambling operators and personnel working in the industry. It also regulates certain lottery managers and promoters.

The Act sets out different types of operating licence that cover the full range of commercial gambling activities conducted in Great Britain. It also makes provision for the Commission to have powers of entry and inspection to regulate gambling, with safeguards for those subject to the powers.

Rules and Offences

The Act revised the law on gambling. For example:

• Commercial bingo premises and casinos no longer have to operate as clubs with a 24-hour membership rule (the general public now has access to them)
• A new class of betting intermediary operating licence has also been introduced, to cater for the development of betting exchanges
• Regulation of gambling in Great Britain has been achieved through a variety of measures. These include:
• Secondary legislation
• Conditions on licences
• Codes of practice
• Guidance

The act also introduced a system of temporary use notices. These authorise premises that are not licensed generally for gambling purposes to be used for certain types of gambling for limited periods.

Other regulations

The Act introduced a new regime for gaming machines. A new definition of gaming machine is provided, together with power to prescribe categories. The Act provides certain entitlements for commercial operators to use specified numbers and categories of machines in consequence of their licences. It also establishes permit procedures for authorising use of lower-stake gaming machines in specific locations.

A revised regime for the law of lotteries is contained in the Act, building upon that contained in the Lotteries and Amusements Act 1976, which the Act repealed. The Act regulates lotteries in two ways: either as exempt lotteries, or as licensable lotteries.

The Act makes provision for the advertising of gambling, creating new offences relating to the advertising of unlawful gambling and providing reserve powers for the Secretary of State to make regulations controlling the content of gambling advertisements.

The Act establishes a series of authorisations for private and non-commercial gambling in the UK. This includes authorisations for domestic gaming and betting, and provisions for gaming and lotteries at non-commercial events.

For more information on the Gambling Act 2005 you can visit the Department of Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) website at www.culture.gov.uk. or the Gambling Commissions website.

For information on Worthing Borough Council's Gambling Licensing Policy and Licensing Fees please use the links at the top left hand corner for Application Forms please use the link below.

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