Local licensing authorities have regulatory obligations under the Gambling Act 2005 for licensing gambling premises and issuing permits and permissions.
Considering applications for premises licences is the main business of the licensing authority in terms of local gambling regulation. Where an individual or company uses premises, or causes or permits premises to be used to offer gambling, a premises licence is required.
The Gambling Act 2005 requires Dudley Council to have regard to the licensing objectives when carrying out its licensing functions.
The licensing objectives are:
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.
We review our Statement of Licensing Principles in respect of Gambling, as is required every three years.
The revised Statement of Policy was approved on 28 February 2022. The revised Policy document is available at the foot of this page and can also be inspected at the Licensing Office, at the address below.
The Gambling Act 2005came into force on 1 September 2007 and created a new regulatory system to govern the provision of all gambling in Great Britain, other than the National Lottery and Spread Betting and removed from the Licensing Justices all responsibility for granting gaming and betting permissions.
It introduced for the first time a unified regulatory body for the gambling industry,The Gambling Commission, as the national regulator and also gave us new responsibilities in relation to Gambling, Gaming and Betting. The Gambling Commission investigates and prosecutes illegal gambling providers and give guidance to Local Authorities on how they should carry out their function under the Act.
We are required to draft, consult on and publish a Statement of Licensing Principals. A copy of our Statement of Licensing Principals can be found at the bottom of this page.
Under the Gambling Act 2005 the Gambling Commission is responsible for issuing personal and operator licences and local authorities have a number of important regulatory functions in relation to gambling. These include licensing premises, regulating gaming and gaming machines in clubs, granting permits to family entertainment centres for the use of certain lower stake gaming machines, regulating gaming and gaming machines on alcohol licensed premises, granting permits for prize gaming, registering small society lotteries, and tracks.
More information aboutwhat type of licenceis needed can be found on theGambling Commission Website, or by contacting the Licensing Office using the Contact Details box below.
To assist in the production of Gambling Premises risk assessments, the Licensing authority have produced a local area profile by means of a map of the borough, showing the location of all existing gaming premises.
There is a statutory requirement under the Gambling Act 2005 for licensing authorities and the local police to put into place a written joint enforcement protocol. This is available for download at the bottom of this page.
If you need further information or want to discuss the Joint Enforcement Protocol please contact the Licensing Office, details can be found in the contact details box below.
In order for gambling activity to take place in any public premises you will need to obtain a permit.
If you want to use premises to provide facilities for gambling, you will first need to obtain a premises licence from us under the Gambling Act 2005. Further information can be found on the Gambling Commission website.
Service of Notice on Responsible Authorities
It is important that all documentation, including application forms, plans, etc, is sent to the Responsible Authorities. Should you not do so, your application will be considered incompleteand will be rejected.
The information you provide to the Licensing department is processed in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998. For further information see Privacy and Disclaimer statements.
