Gambling Act Policy 2025 to 2028 consultation

Overview

We want your views on our draft Gambling Act 2005 Statement of Licensing Policy (the ‘Gambling Act Policy’).

Under the Gambling Act 2005, Buckinghamshire Council in its role as Licensing Authority is responsible for issuing permits and licences for premises where gambling takes place. For example, premises such as betting shops, bingo halls and entertainment/gaming centres.

We are also responsible for:

• issuing permits for gaming machines – those that are typically found in pubs
• notices for one off gambling events, such as point to point racing
• registering societies who wish to carry out small scale lotteries, such as charities and schools

We must publish a statement of licensing policy that is reviewed and consulted on at least every three years. This is the first review of the Buckinghamshire Gambling Act Policy following adoption of the new policy in April 2022.

The Gambling Act 2005

The Act sets out licensing objectives that underpin the legislation and must be taken into consideration by the Council, and by people who provide gambling facilities. The objectives are:

• preventing gambling being a source of crime and disorder, being associated with crime and disorder, or being used to support crime
• ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way
• protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling

The draft policy

We are proposing minimal changes to the policy. Proposed changes are highlighted in the draft documents below and include updates related to:

• casino licenses
• small society lotteries
• the local area profile

The policy also references the requirements set out in the Gambling Commission’s code of practice in relation to social responsibility.

Related documents and links

Before you respond to this activity, please have a look at the following documents:

• Draft Gambling Act 2005 Statement of Licensing Policy with highlighted changes (PDF 0.7MB)
• The Local Area Profile (PDF 0.21MB)

How to have your say

You can tell us your views in one of the following ways:

• complete the online survey using the link at the end of the page
• complete, and return, a printed version of the survey (PDF 0.2MB)
• email us at licensing@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

If you have any questions about this activity, please email us at licensing@buckinghamshire.gov.uk or phone us on 0300 131 6000.

Please tell us your views by 11:59pm on Friday 20 September 2024.

What happens next

We will use your responses to develop the final Buckinghamshire Council Gambling Act Policy.

The Policy will be presented to Licensing Committee on 19 November 2024. It will then be presented to Council on 26 February 2025 for approval.

Privacy

We will use the information you provide here only for this activity. We will store the information securely in line with data protection laws and will not share or publish any personal details. For more information about data and privacy, please see our Privacy Policy.

If you have questions about data and privacy, please email us on dataprotection@buckinghamshire.gov.uk or write to our Data Protection Officer at Buckinghamshire Council, The Gateway, Gatehouse Road, Aylesbury, HP19 8FF.