This guidance is aimed at businesses or individuals that wish to provide gambling facilities at bingo halls, bookmakers, amusement arcades, race courses and sporting arenas (where betting takes place).
The guidance note explains how to make an application for a new premises licence under the Gambling Act 2005 to licence the above premises types.
The Act controls the way commercial gambling is regulated in the United Kingdom. The Gambling Commission is the national gambling regulator and it issues operating licences to gambling companies and personal licences to gambling staff. Local councils are appointed as licensing authorities to issue premises licences for gambling premises in their areas. See paragraph 3.2 for more information on this.
In accordance with Section 349 of the Act the council has published a ‘Statement of Licensing Policy’ which sets out how we will approach our functions under the Act. It is important that your read and familiarise yourself with this document especially if you plan to submit an application to alter or exclude a default condition. (See section 3.5 for more information on this).
This document is available on the following page Gambling Policy or you can request a paper copy from the Licensing Section.
• a track betting premises licence.
bingo premises licence The provision of facilities for the playing of bingo, plus maximum of 4 gaming machines in category B3 or B4, and no limit on C or D machines Children permitted in the premises and able to play the category D machines but children not permitted to enter the area where the category C gaming machines are located.
family entertainment centre premises licence Category C or D gaming machines (unlimited number) Children permitted in the premises and able to play the category D machines but children not permitted to enter the area where the category C gaming machines are located.
betting premises licence including track betting premises licences The provision of facilities for betting whether by making or accepting bets, by acting as a betting intermediary or by providing other facilities for the making or accepting of bets, plus maximum of 4 gaming machines in category B2 to D. Children permitted to enter all areas of the premises on designated race days but not able to enter the areas where any C and B machines are located on non race days.
There are three categories of licence under the Gambling Act 2005 (operating, personal and premises) - your business may need all three kinds. The Gambling Commission issues operating licences and personal licences, while premises licences are issued by local authorities. So if you wish to operate premises in Doncaster, we will deal with your premises licence application and before applying to us for this, you must first have applied to the Gambling Commission for your operating licence and personal licences. Visit the Gambling Commission website for more information.
Under the Act there are two different types of conditions which attach to premises licences; mandatory conditions and default conditions. Mandatory conditions attach to certain classes of premises licences automatically and the council has no discretion to change, exclude or substitute these. Default conditions are conditions which will be attached to a premises licence automatically unless the applicant indicates through their application that they wish to exclude or alter a default condition.
When making your application you can either chose to offer your consent to us to apply all the default conditions (standard opening hours) in respect of the class of premises licence you are applying for. Or if you do not wish to accept the default conditions which would otherwise be attached to your licence you may ask for an alteration to the default conditions. This effectively amounts to an application to extend the times during which you want the premises to be available for gambling under the premises licence. The attached application form labelled GPREM1 is used for both types of applications.
After you have submitted your application you will then be required to notify each of the responsible authorities about your application including the Gambling Commission and you will also have to advertise your application by displaying a notice on the premises as well as advertising the application in a local newspaper. If representations are made about your application during the statutory notice period then we will arrange a licensing committee hearing to determine your application. The mandatory conditions will automatically be attached to your premises licence.
You will be required to pay a fee when you submit your application. This fee will depend on the category of premises licence you apply for. You will then be required to pay a ‘firs annual fee’. This will become payable 30 days after the date of grant of the licence. You will then be required to pay an annual renewal fee to keep the licence in force. The premises licence fees, which vary between premises, have been selected from within predefined fee bands set by the Secretary of State.
You must display a notice about your application on the premises to which the application relates. The notice must be displayed for 28 days. The 28 days runs from the day on which the application is made to the council. The notice must be made by filling out the government prescribed form. You will find in this application pack a blank notice for you to fill out and use labelled GNOTICE1.
Do not obscure the notice in any way or make it difficult to read. Others must be able to read the notice from outside your premises. If your premises is within a complex or its own grounds and the public will be unable to view the notice or notices from the exterior of the site then you should also display a notice at the nearest public thoroughfare (such as at the entrance to the complex/site) so the notice is easily read by the passing public.
Once you have sent us your application one of our officers will visit your site to inspect the notice. If it is found that the notice or its positioning does not meet the requirements of the Act then we may ask you to redisplay the notice and we may reset your 28 day notice period or even return your application.
Please feel free to contact us before you submit your application to clarify what our requirements will be in this regard so as to reduce the chances of this happening.
You must also publish a notice about your application in a local newspaper which covers the area where the premises is located. The notice should appear on at least one occasion within 10 working days starting with the day after the day on which you made your application to the council. It must contain the same information as the notice placed on your premises but does not need to use the same dimensions, or font size.
(c) The nature and location of any barrier or other thing separating any part of the premises in which Category B or C gaming machines will be made available for use from any other part of the premises.
(a) The plan must show the location and extent of any part of the premises which will be used to provide facilities for gambling in reliance on the licence.
(d) The nature and location of any barrier or other thing separating any part of the premises in which Category B or C gaming machines will be made available for use from any other part of the premises.
(c) the nature and location of any barrier or other thing separating any part of the premises in which Category C gaming machines will be made available for use from any other part of the premises.
5. You must also give notice of your application to each of the responsible authorities within a period of seven days beginning on the date on which your application was made to the council. (You must use one of the prescribed forms which are enclosed with this pack. Use the form labelled GNOTICE1A if you are a single applicant and use the form labelled GNOTICE1B if there are multiple applicants.) See section 5 for the addresses of the responsible authorities.
If you are not satisfied with the decision of the Sub Committee then you have a right of appeal to the Magistrates court. Information about how and when to make any appeal will be contained in your Sub Committee decision letter.
Gaming Machines This section describes the categories of gaming machine as set out in the Act (and in regulations) and the number of such machines that may be permitted in premises that hold a gambling premises licence.
• Table 1 below sets out the different categories of machines with the maximum stakes and prizes that will apply.
• Table 2 below shows the maximum number of machines permitted and in the case of the large casino the ratios between tables and machines.
D 20p £20 of which no more than £10.00 may be a money prize.
*or where the prize value available through its use is wholly or partly determined by reference to use made of one or more other sub-category B1 machines, no more than £20,000.
Mandatory and default conditions Mandatory conditions are automatically added to all relevant Premises Licences. Default conditions may be excluded by the Licensing Authority.
This document outlines the Mandatory and Default conditions that will be attached to Premises Licences for Bingo premises, Gaming Centres and betting premises issued under the Gambling Act 2005.
For conditions relating to other types of premises please contact the Licensing department.
- between FECs and alcohol licensed premises/ bingo halls/ clubs with club gaming or club machine permit and tracks.
• A notice stating that no person under the age of 18 years is permitted to play bingo on the premises shall be displayed in a prominent place at every entrance to the premises.
• Over 18s areas within bingo halls that admit under 18s must be separated by a barrier with prominently displayed notices stating that under 18s are not permitted in that area and with adequate supervision in place to ensure that children and young people are not able to access these areas or the category B or C machines. Supervision may be done either by placing the terminals within the line of sight of an official or via monitored CCTV.
• Any admission charges, the charges for playing bingo games and the rules of bingo must be displayed in a prominent position on the premises. Rules can be displayed on a sign, by making available leaflets or written material containing the rules or running an audio-visual guide to the rules prior to any bingo game being commenced.
• Any Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) made available for use on the premises shall be located in a place that requires any customer who wishes to use it to cease gambling in order to do so.
• Bingo facilities in bingo halls may not be offered between the hours of midnight and 9am. However, there are no restrictions on access to gaming machines in bingo halls.
• A notice shall be displayed at all entrances to the betting premises stating that no person under the age of 18 shall be admitted.
• There should be no access to betting premises from other premises that undertake commercial activity (except from other premises with a betting premises licence including tracks). In addition, the entrance to a betting shop should be from the street(defined as any bridge, road, lane, footway, subway, square, court , alley or passage including passages through enclosed premises such as shopping centres whether thoroughfare or not).
• Any ATM made available for use on the premises shall be located in a place that requires any customer who wishes to use it to leave any gaming machine or betting machine to do so.
• No apparatus for making information or any other material available in the form of sounds or visual images may be used on the licence premises, except where the matter seen or heard is a sporting event and bets may have been affected on the premises in relation to this event. Betting operator-owned TV channels will be permitted.
• No music, dancing or other entertainment is permitted.
• The consumption of alcohol is prohibited on the premises.
• The only publications that may be sold on the premises are racing periodicals or specialist betting publications.
• Clear and accessible information about the terms on which a bet may be placed should be displayed in a prominent position on the premises.
• Gambling facilities may not be offered in betting premises between the hours of 10pm on one day and 7pm on the next day, on any day.
• A notice shall be displayed at all entrances to AGCs stating that no person under the age of 18 will be admitted.
• There can be no direct access between an AGC and any other premises licensed under the Act. There is no definition of direct access in the Act or regulations. However, it could be said that there should be an area separating the premises concerned, which the public go to for purposes other than gambling, for there to be shown to be no direct access.
• Any ATM available for use on the premises shall be located in a place that requires any customer who wishes to use it to cease gambling in order to do so.
• The consumption of alcohol in AGCs is prohibited. A notice stating this should be displayed in a prominent position on the premises.
• No customer shall be able to enter the premises directly from a casino, an adult gaming centre or betting premises (other than a track). There is no definition of direct access in the Act or regulations. However, it could be said that there should be an area separating the premises concerned, which the public go to for purposes other than gambling, for there to be shown to be no direct access.
• Over 18s areas within FECs that admit under 18s must be separated by a barrier with prominently displayed notices stating that under 18s are not allowed in that area and with adequate supervision in place to ensure that children and young people are not able to access these areas or the category B and C machines. Supervision may be done either by placing terminals within the line of sight of an official of the operator or via monitored CCTV.
• The consumption of alcohol in FECs is prohibited. A notice stating this should be in a prominent position on the premises.
The information above should be used as a guidance tool. Only the courts can give an authoritative opinion on statute law.
Every effort has been made to ensure this information is both comprehensive and accurate but in an attempt to simplify the law omissions have been made.
Please refer to the Gambling Act 2005 and associated regulations for full details of the law.
You should seek your own legal advice on the matters raised in this guidance note.
How do I vary an existing gambling premises licence?
To make application to vary an existing gambling premises licence you should download and complete the application and guidance form attached to this page.