Licences and permissions Gambling premise licences

Gambling Act - Definitions

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:

  • someone who lives sufficiently close to the premises that is likely to be affected by the gambling premises; 
  • has business interests that might be affected by the authorised activities; and
  • represents persons who satisfy the above two points.

More details can be found in section 3.4 of our gambling policy.

What are the licensing objectives?

  • preventing gambling from being a source of crime or 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.

What is an Adult Gaming Centre, a Family Entertainment Centre, a travelling fair etc?

There is a glossary of terms in appendix N of the gambling policy.

What are temporary use notices?

Temporary use notices enable use of premises for gambling where there is no premises licence in force. e.g. 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) you can apply for an occasional use notice.

What are provisional statements?

A means by which an applicant may apply for an authorisation for gambling activities in a building not yet completed. A 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 the gambling policy. A fuller list is available from the Gambling Commission.

There are different categories of gaming machines - what are they?

We have outlined the different categories of gaming machine in appendix F of the gambling policy.

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