Licensing

Statement of Gambling Policy

Medway Council's Statement of Gambling Policy was approved on 7 December 2006, reviewed and amended on 14 January 2010 and outlines the way the council, as the licensing authority, implements this legislation.

The council has published the statutory notice advising of the publication and effective date of the Statement of Gambling Policy.

The background

The previous law on gambling was more than 30 years old, did not cater for modern technology or the internet and had not kept up with changes in society. The government reviewed the law to ensure that it can respond flexibly to future technological and market developments. The Gambling Act 2005 (the Act) received Royal Assent on 7 April 2005.

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

Who issues the appropriate licences and permits?

The Gambling Commission (www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/) is responsible for granting operating and personal licences to commercial gambling operators and people working in the industry. It will also regulate certain lottery managers and promoters.

Medway Council is the licensing authority and issues:

• premises licences (this includes casinos, bingo halls, adult gaming centres, family entertainment centres, race tracks and betting shops);
• permits (licensed premises gaming machine permits, club permits, prize gaming permits, notification of two or less machines);
• lotteries (small society lotteries, incidental non-commercial lotteries, private lotteries and customer lotteries);
• temporary use notices and occasional use notices for short-term gambling events.

Private and non-commercial gaming and betting exemption.

This covers:

• private gaming;
• non-commercial gaming;
• domestic betting;
• workers' betting.

Non-gambling premises

Gaming machines are not allowed in taxi offices or takeaways (such as fish and chip, kebab or pizza shops.)

Fees

• Premises Licence Fees (set by Medway Council within the maximum set by the government);
• Permit Fees.

Responsible Authorities

Go to a list of the Responsible Authorities under the Gambling Act 2005 in Medway.

Objectives

In all cases, three licensing objectives must be considered:

• to prevent gambling from being a source of crime and disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime;
• to ensure that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way;
• to protect children and vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

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