Gambling Act Consultation

Gambling Act 2005 - Statement of Principles 2022-2025

The Council, as the licensing authority, is required to publish a new Statement of Principles Policy at least every 3 years under the Gambling Act 2005. The draft policy sets out the principles by which BCP Council as a Licensing Authority will discharge its functions under the Act.

Under the Gambling Act 2005, the Licensing Authority is required to publish a policy that will define the principles they will apply in exercising their gambling licensing functions as laid out by the Act.

The aim of the policy is to promote the following 3 licensing objectives.

• Preventing gambling from being a source of crime and disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime
• Ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way
• Protecting children and other vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling

We are consulting on a draft version of the first policy since the formation of the Council in 2019. The Statement of Gambling Policy 2022-2025 provides guidance and sets out BCP Council’s expectations as to how gambling premises will be managed and regulated.

View the policy

Have your say

This consultation has now closed.

The Gambling Policy covers:

• issuing premises licenses and permits
• regulating gambling premises activities
• receipt and endorsement of Temporary or Occasional Use Notices for infrequent betting and gaming

Betting operators need to complete risk assessments to identify risks and set out how they aim to address them. This has enabled the Council to use the area profiles in considering applications for new gambling premises to ensure that prospective operators have demonstrated that they understand and are mitigating against gambling-related harm.

This policy document should:

• provide applicants with a clear, consistent basis for submitting applications and notices
• provide a clear, consistent basis for determining licence applications
• ensure the relevant views of those affected by licensed premises are taken into consideration
• ensure local area issues are considered by licensed premises
• support wider strategies of the Council and the approach to gambling

We are expecting that gambling premises operators refer to the Policy and the Local Area Profile to identify any local risks and measures they will need to put in place to minimise or eradicate them. This places the onus on the betting operator producing independent risk assessments which can be viewed on request by the Council. The risk assessments should consider the local area, the design and layout of the premises, the gambling operation and the control measures in place to reduce the risk of problem gambling occurring in the BCP Council area.

We welcome your views on the revised policy but also remind you that the Act precludes the council from considering comments of the following nature:

• Moral Objections: we cannot take into account comments based on a dislike of gambling, or a general view that it is undesirable to allow gambling premises in the borough
• Demand: we cannot take into account issues around the demand or need for gambling premises in the conurbation