The Gambling Act 2005
Find out about gambling premises licences and how to apply
The Gambling Act 2005 regulates all forms of commercial gambling, including casinos, bingo halls, betting shops, adult gaming centres, arcades, online and smartphone.
It covers the licensing of gambling premises, operators and personnel and its primary objectives are to:
- prevent gambling from being a source of crime and disorder, being associated with crime or disorder, or being used to support crime
- ensure gambling is conducted in a fair and open way
- protect children and other vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling.
Who can apply?
To apply for a gambling licence, you must be:
- 18 years old or older if you're applying as an individual
- authorised to make an application on their behalf if you are applying for a company
- authorised to use the property you want to get a licence for
- hold (or have applied for) an operator's licence from the Gambling Commission for the activity
Types of licences
For more information on all the different types of licences under the Gambling Act 2005, please visit the Gambling Commission.
Casino premises licences
The Licensing Authority cannot grant any new casino premises licences but an existing converted casino premises licence can be varied to increase or decrease the permitted gambling area, vary the default conditions, or any conditions imposed by the council. Unlike other types of licences, they can be varied to move them from one premises to another.
Bingo premises licences
Bingo has its ordinary and natural meaning and includes any version of the game irrespective of by what name it is described. A holder of a bingo premises licence will be able to offer bingo in all its forms.
A Bingo premises licence granted before the 13th July 2011 are entitled to make eight category B gaming machines, or 20% of the total number of gaming machines, whichever is greater. For Bingo premises licences granted after the 13th July 2011 are entitled to make available for use a number of category B gaming machines not exceeding 20% of the total number of gaming machines on the premises. There are no restrictions on category C or D machines that can be made available in any Bingo licence no matter when it was granted.
Betting premises licences
This is betting that takes place other than at a track, typically in a betting shop, and includes an entitlement to operate up to four gaming machines of category B2, B3, B4, C or D, and any number of betting machines.
Family entertainment centre premises licences
Generally, family entertainment centres (FECs) must be operated by a person or body having an operating licence from the Gambling Commission. The Act also provides that there is a class of unlicensed FECs that may be run by individuals or bodies not holding an operator’s licence.
Adult gaming centre premises licences
Adult gaming centres (AGCs) premises licences allow the holder of the licence to make gaming machines available for use on the premises. Persons operating an AGC must hold a gaming machines general operating licence from the Commission and must seek a premises licence from the licensing authority. The holder of an adult gaming centre premises licence that was issued prior to the 13th July 2011 is entitled to make available four category B3/B4 gaming machines, or 20% of the total number of gaming machines, whichever, is the greater. An AGC premises licence granted after the 13th July 2011 may make available for use a number of category B gaming machines not exceeding 20% of the total number of gaming machines which are available for use on the premises and any number of category C or D machines.
There are also other types of applications under The Gambling Act 2005:
- Small society lotteries
- Gaming machine permits
- Club gaming and machine permits
- Track betting licences
How to apply
To apply for a premises licence you need to complete an application form and return it to us, enclosing a plan of the premises, the local area risk assessment and the relevant licence fee. See our fees list for details.
Licensing Fees 2024
You must give the prescribed form of notice of application to all the responsible authorities within seven days, beginning on the date on which the application is made.
The Responsible Authorities are :
- The Licensing Authority
- The Gambling Commission
- The Metropolitan Commissioner of Police
- The London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority
- The Planning Authority
- The Environmental Health Service
- The Area Child Committee
- H.M. Revenue and Customs
You must publish a prescribed notice of application in a local newspaper, on at least one occasion during the period of 10 working days, starting with the day on which the application is made.
You must also publish the same prescribed form of notice at the premises for 28 consecutive days, starting on the date on which a valid application is made.
Representations
The consultation period for new premises licence applications is 28 consecutive days starting on the date on which a valid application is made.
Interested parties, as well as responsible authorities, may submit representations within this 28 day period. All representations must relate directly to the application and/or one or more of the licensing objectives.
An interested party is someone who:
- lives sufficiently close to the premises to be likely to be affected by the authorised activities;
- has business interests that might be affected by the authorised activities; or
- represents persons from either of these points.
Granting the licence
If we don’t receive any representations after the 28 day consultation period, the licence will be granted and we will issue it by email shortly after along with the licence summary.
If there is a relevant representation from a responsible authority or interested party, the application will be presented to the Licensing Sub-Committee for their determination. The hearing will be arranged as soon as reasonably practicable 28 day consultation period.
What happens next
Once a licence has been granted, the premises licence will be subject to an annual fee. Failure to pay your annual fee will result in the revocation of the licence.
You'll be expected to conform with the relevant mandatory and default licence conditions or relevant codes of practice issued by the Gambling Commission.
Westminster City Council statement of policy
We are required by the Gambling Act 2005 to publish a statement of the principles that we propose to apply when exercising our functions under the Act.
This statement must be published every 3 years. The first period of 3 years started on 31 January 2007.
Published: 14 December 2020
Last updated: 9 May 2024