Gambling

Club and gaming machine permits, gambling premises licences, pools operator registration and other information.

A summary of the act

Gambling operators will require an operating licence and any relevant personal licences from the Gambling Commission
They can then get a premises licence from their relevant licensing authority. For premises based in Uttlesford this will be Uttlesford District Council.
Decisions by both bodies will be made in accordance with the three licensing objectives, which are:
- preventing gambling being a source of crime or disorder
- ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way
- protecting children and the vulnerable from being harmed or exploited by gambling

The Gambling Commission

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

Illegal gambling will be investigated and organisers prosecuted. The Gambling Commission will also collect information from us about gambling so that it can regulate gambling effectively and advise the government about gambling in the United Kingdom.

The Act removes from licensing justices all responsibility for granting gambling and betting permissions, which they exercised previously. Instead, the Commission and licensing authorities will share between them responsibility for all matters previously regulated by licensing justices.

Local licensing authorities

We will issue premises licenses for: casinos, betting offices and race tracks, bingo clubs, adult gaming centres and family entertainment centres.

We will also issue permits for: gaming machines in members' clubs and licensed premises, gaming in members' clubs, prize gaming and unlicensed family entertainment centres. We will also approve temporary use notices and issue provisional statements (provisional statements are a kind of licence issued before a building is built or altered for the purpose of gambling).

Fees

For detailed information concerning the fees structure, please see Gambling Act 2005 fees and charges.

Licensing policy

It is a requirement under section 349 of the Gambling Act 2005 for the Council to prepare, consult and publish a Gambling Policy Statement.

The Statement of Principles Gambling Act 2005 effective 2022-2025 (PDF) [410KB] was approved at the Licensing and Environmental Health Committee on 12 July 2022.

Will tacit consent apply?

Tacit consent applies to family entertainment centre gaming machine licences and licensed premises gaming machine permits. In this case, we must process your application before it can be granted.
Where tacit consent does apply, this means that you will be able to act as though your application is granted if you have not heard from us by the end of the target completion period.

Tacit consent does not apply to adult gaming centre premises licence, betting premises licences, provisional statements and family entertainment centre licences. This is because the Act requires the Licensing Authority to hold a hearing prior to determine an application in the event that an objection is received from the Gambling Commission, other responsible bodies or interested parties. Tacit consent would override this requirement.

Target completion period

Target completion periods for family entertainment centre gaming machine licences and licensed premises gaming machine permits are as follows:

• apply for family entertainment centre gaming machine licences and licensed premises gaming machine permits (40 working days)

Gaming machines

Club machine permits replace the permissions provided by Part 3 registration under the 1968 Gaming Act. If a club does not wish to have the full range of facilities permitted by a club gaming permit, and just wants gaming machines only, they may apply for a club machine permit.

A club machine permit authorises the holder to have up to three gaming machines of categories B3A (however, this category is not available for commercial clubs) B4, C and D.

Commercial clubs, as well as members' clubs and miners' welfare institutes, may apply for a club machine permit.

More information about gaming machines.

Pools operator

Pool betting involves pooling the stakes of participants, deducting a proportion of the stakes to cover expenses, tax and operator's profits, and, when the result is known, sharing the remainder of the prize among the winners. The level of individual prizes depends on the number of winners and cannot be predicted with any accuracy in advance.

This is an annual registration and the current fees are as follows:

initial Registration £450
renewal £300

Application forms and documents

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