Gambling Statement of Principles Consultation

Overview

Hackney Council is the Licensing Authority under the Gambling Act 2005. This gives the Council responsibility for issuing gambling premises licences and a range of permits to local authorities.

Why your views matter

Since 2007 the Council’s Licensing Committee has been responsible for granting premises licences for:

• Bingo premises

• Betting premises, including tracks (for e.g. horse or dog racing)

• Amusement arcades

• As well as issuing a range of permits and notices for gambling activities.

The Act makes clear that when Licensing Authorities are carrying out their duties to licence premises and issue permits, they have to bear the following licensing objectives in mind:

• To prevent gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime;

• To ensure that gambling is carried out in a fair and open way;

• To protect children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

About Hackney’s draft revised gambling Statement of Principles

In January 2007, the Council produced and published its gambling statement setting out the principles it would apply in deciding whether to grant or refuse applications. The gambling Statement of Principles seeks to promote the licensing objectives and guidance from the Gambling Commission, an independent co–regulator of gambling operators. This sets out how the Council has built on these core objectives, developing an approach to licensing premises for gambling that reflect local circumstances in the Borough.

The Council is required to review the Statement at least once every three years and to consult upon the draft before it is adopted.

Making sure the draft Statement is relevant to our local circumstances

In drafting this Statement, we have been mindful of the demographics of our borough and how that links to the licensing objectives set out in the Gambling Act 2005.

There are currently 55 licensed gambling premises in the borough: 52 betting shops and 3 adult gaming centres. This has reduced since 2007 when there were 72 premises in total.

At present there are no casinos in Hackney and the Council has previously passed a ‘no casino’ resolution and will consider this step again will consider this step again shortly in the future.

We welcome this opportunity to receive your views on this draft Statement and your feedback on the impact it is having on managing gambling activity for the benefit of the economy and the community in Hackney.