What activities and type of premises are covered by the Act?
The Act covers ALL premises that allow commercial gambling, including bookmakers, horse tracks, dog tracks, casinos, amusement arcades, and pubs and bars with gaming machines. The Act allows holders of appropriate operating licences to make temporary use of other premises - such as hotels and conference centres - for gambling. The Act also covers remote gambling, via the internet, interactive TV or a mobile phone.
What type of licence, permit or other authorisation do I need for my premises?
The type of licences, permits and other authorisations available to those wanting to offer gambling activities are outlined on page 13 of our gambling policy (507KB) .
What is the difference between licences and permits?
Applicants for premises licences must have been granted an operating licence and their staff may need to apply for one or more personal licences. Applicants for permits do not need to apply for any other authorisation. However, permits are more restrictive in terms of what they allow.
What standards do we expect from gambling premises?
Our gambling policy (507KB) outlines the standards we expect:
Where do I need to go to get a licence?
What happens if somebody has an opinion about a gambling premises application?
If a responsible authority or an interested party has an opinion about a gambling premises licence application, they may make what is called a representation. This is a statement outlining their opinion and if they have concerns may include how they would like to seen them addressed.
The receipt of any representations in respect of a gambling premises application may trigger a hearing. At any such hearing a committee of elected councillors will decide whether the application should be granted as applied for and whether any additional safeguards are needed. If there are no representations received the application will be granted as applied for.
What is a responsible authority?
A responsible authority is a body prescribed by the Gambling Act as authorised to comment on gambling premises licence applications.
What is an interested party?
For the purposes of the Gambling Act, an ‘interested party’ is:
For more details, please see section 3.4 or out gambling policy.
What are licensing objectives?
What is an Adult Gaming Centre, a Family Entertainment Centre, a travelling fair etc?
We have included a glossary of terms in Appendix of our gambling policy. Should there be any term you do not understand, please contact the Licensing Unit for assistance.
What are Temporary Use Notices?
Temporary Use Notices enable use of premises for gambling where there is no premises licence in force eg hotels, conference centres, sporting venues. With a Temporary Use Notice, any such premises may be used for gambling for up to 21 days in a 12-month period.
What are Occasional Use Notices?
Instead of applying for a premises licence, tracks or other sporting venues that only intend to allow betting on eight days or less in a calendar year (starting 1 January), may apply for an Occasional Use Notice.
What are provisional statements?
A provisional statement is a means by which an applicant may apply for an authorisation for gambling activities in a building not yet completed. Provisional statement application is subject to the same criteria as a full premises licence application.
What offences are created under the Gambling Act 2005?
We have outlined some of the offences created under the Gambling Act in Appendix C of our gambling policy (507KB) . A fuller list is available from the Gambling Commission (External website**).
There are different categories of gaming machines now, what are they?
We have outlined the different categories of gaming machine in Appendix F of our gambling policy (507KB) .
What rights of access and participation do under 18s have as far as gambling?
We have outlined these in Appendix G of our gambling policy (507KB) .
How can I ensure under 18s don’t get access to my premises or areas of the premises to which they are not allowed access?
We would expect applicants to make use of a Proof of Act Standards Scheme (PASS). We have outlined details of these in Appendix M of our gambling policy (507KB) .
How can I find out who has applied for a licence under the Gambling Act?
We will be maintaining a register of applications on our website.
How can I find out who has been issued a licence under the Gambling Act?
We will be maintaining a register of licence applications on our website
email customer-services@highpeak.gov.uk.
**Please note: High Peak Borough Council is not responsible for the content of any external websites.