West Berkshire Council wants your views on our revised Draft Statement of Gambling Principles.
We are the licensing authority under the Gambling Act 2005 and responsible for issuing gambling premises licences, gaming permits and small lottery licences since 2007. We are required under section 349 of the Gambling Act 2005 to produce a Statement of Gambling Principle (SoGP)s, which must be reviewed at least every three years. Our current document was adopted and published in January 2022.
Under the Act the licensing authority must consider the following licensing objectives when undertaking its duties and producing a policy under the Gambling Act 2005:
- to prevent gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime
- to ensure that gambling is carried out in a fair and open way
- to protect children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling
The SoGP sets out the principles we will apply in dealing with applications made under the Gambling Act 2005. In drafting this Policy, we have been mindful of the demographics of our district and the impact our policy is having on managing gambling activity for the benefit of the economy and the community in West Berkshire. The Council also has a responsibility to protect vulnerable residents from the harm that can come from gambling, such as financial difficulties, poor mental health, crime and disorder and breakdown of personal relationships.
The current version of the Statement has now been reviewed and a proposed draft policy, which can be found here (._Draft_Statement_of_Gambling_Principles_2024-2027_July_2024.pdf (westberks.gov.uk) has been produced based on the licensing objectives and guidance provided by the Gambling Commission. The current SoGP has not been the subject of any legal challenge or complaint, and we are therefore only proposing minor changes by updating the population data and adding in some additional information on the classification of Gaming Machines in the Glossary.
This consultation is open to responsible authorities, residents and businesses, and we would encourage feedback from those with experience of gambling such as the gambling industry. At the end of the consultation period, we will collate and consider the feedback received and may use this information to revise the draft before asking the Council to adopt the new policy.
Councillor Jeremy Cottam, the Chairman of the Licensing Committee said “Licensed premises play an important part in our local communities. The Council needs to balance the protection of vulnerable persons against the authority’s objective to aim to permit the responsible use of premises for gambling. We would therefore welcome the views of our residents, businesses, stakeholders or indeed anyone who has an interest in licensing and the promotion of the licensing objectives, so that we can formalise our next policy.”
The consultation which can be found here: Draft West Berkshire Statement of Gambling Principles 2025-2028 - West Berkshire Council will run from the 18 July to 12 September 2024 and we aim to publish the outcome of the consultation by the 26 September 2024.
Paper copies of the consultation are available. To request one, please phone 01635 519045 or email pppconsultations@westberks.gov.uk
