The Gambling Act
There are three types of licence required by the Gambling Act 2005:
- premises licence - required to operate a gambling premises
- operator licence - concerned with the management and conduct of gambling and
- personal licence - for persons with key operational functions connected with the gambling business.
To operate a gambling business, you must first apply for an operator licence and any relevant personal licences from the Gambling Commission. You can then apply to the local authority for a premises licence.
Licensing objectives
There are three licensing objectives that underpin the Act and all applications must ensure the objectives are upheld, these are:
- 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 and
- protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling.
Gambling permits
The licensing authority also issue gambling permits for various gaming activities:
• club machine permits
• club gaming permits
• alcohol licensed premises gaming and gaming machine permits
• family entertainment centre gaming machine permits
• prize gaming permits and
• temporary and occasional use notices.
Registrations
The Act also allows the licensing authority to register small society lotteries.
