Gambling licensing policy

Licensed premises are subject to a variety of conditions.

Premises licences granted by the Licensing Authority are subject to mandatory and default conditions as well as additional conditions which may be imposed by the Licensing Authority. Furthermore, they are subject to conditions and codes of practice by virtue of operating licences and personal licences issued by the Gambling Commission.

When considering applications, the Licensing Authority can attach conditions to any licence where it believes that the imposition of conditions will ensure that the operation of the premises is reasonably consistent with the licensing objectives.

The Licensing Objectives section in this part of this policy provides further guidance on suggested control measures which may form the basis of the types of conditions imposed by the Licensing Authority. The suggested measures are not exhaustive and there may be other types of conditions considered necessary dependant on the particular circumstances.

The Gambling Commission’s Guidance to Local Authorities confirms that mandatory conditions are set with the intention that no further regulation is required. Additional conditions would only therefore be considered necessary where there are regulatory concerns of an exceptional nature.

Each application will be considered on its own merits and conditions attached as appropriate.

Any conditions attached to a licence will be:

• relevant to the need to make the proposed building suitable as a gambling facility
• directly related to the premises and the type of licence applied for
• related to the scale and type of premises
• reasonable in all respects

Certain matters are set out in the Act that may not be the subject of conditions:

• conditions which prevent compliance with an operating licence condition
• conditions relating to gaming machines categories, numbers or method of operation
• conditions requiring membership of a club or body in respect of any part or activity at the premises
• conditions on limits of stakes, fees, winnings or prizes

The Gambling Commission advises in its Guidance to Licensing Authorities that if a licensing authority is concerned that particular premises may attract disorder or be subject to attempted unauthorised access (for example by children) it may require that the entrances to the premises are controlled by a door supervisor.

In these circumstances the licensing authority is entitled to impose a condition on the premises licence to this effect.