Gambling premises licence

This guidance is aimed at businesses or individuals that wish to provide gambling facilities at the following types of premises:

• bingo halls
• bookmakers
• amusement arcades
• race courses / sporting arenas (where betting takes place)

Depending on what type of business you wish to operate, there are five different types of premises licence available:

• a bingo premises licence
• an adult gaming centre premises licence
• a family entertainment centre premises licence
• a betting premises licence
• a track betting premises licence.

Type of premises licence	Gambling permitted	Other notes
bingo premises licence	The provision of facilities for the playing of bingo, plus maximum of 4 gaming machines in category B3 or B4, and no limit on C or D machines	Children permitted in the premises and able to play the category D machines but children not permitted to enter the area where the category C gaming machines are located.
adult gaming centre premises licence	No more than 20% of total machines in category B3 or B4, and no limit on C or D machines	No children permitted in this premises' type
family entertainment centre premises licence	Category C or D gaming machines (unlimited number)	Children permitted in the premises and able to play the category D machines but children not permitted to enter the area where the category C gaming machines are located.
betting premises licence including track betting premises licences	The provision of facilities for betting whether by making or accepting bets, by acting as a betting intermediary or by providing other facilities for the making or accepting of bets, plus maximum of 4 gaming machines in category B2 to D.	Children permitted to enter all areas of the premises on designated race days but not able to enter the areas where any C and B machines are located on non race days.

There are three categories of licence under the Gambling Act 2005 (operating, personal and premises) - your business may need all three kinds. The Gambling Commission issues operating licences and personal licences, while premises licences are issued by local authorities. So if you wish to operate premises in Doncaster, we will deal with your premises licence application and before applying to us for this, you must first have applied to the Gambling Commission for your operating licence and personal licences. Visit the Gambling Commission website for more information.

Under the Act there are two different types of conditions which attach to premises licences; mandatory conditions and default conditions. Mandatory conditions attach to certain classes of premises licences automatically and the council has no discretion to change, exclude or substitute these. Default conditions are conditions which will be attached to a premises licence automatically unless the applicant indicates through their application that they wish to exclude or alter a default condition.

When making your application you can either chose to offer your consent to us to apply all the default conditions (standard opening hours) in respect of the class of premises licence you are applying for. Or if you do not wish to accept the default conditions which would otherwise be attached to your licence you may ask for an alteration to the default conditions. This effectively amounts to an application to extend the times during which you want the premises to be available for gambling under the premises licence. The  attached application form labelled GPREM1 is used for both types of applications.

Checklist:

1. Complete the application form
2. Plan (see additional information for plan specifications)
3. Give notice of your application to each responsible authorities (see additional information for the list of authority contacts)
4. Applicants will be expected to prepare risk assessments based on the location and range of clientele of the premises, and to take account of any local area profile produced by the Council. For further details see section 9 of the Statement of Licensing Policy - Gambling Act 2005.

The completed application and all accompanying documents should be sent to licensing@doncaster.gov.uk or post to:

Licensing
Civic Office
Waterdale
Doncaster
DN1 3BU

You will be required to pay a fee when you submit your application. This fee will depend on the category of premises licence you apply for. You will then be required to pay a ‘firs annual fee’. This will become payable 30 days after the date of grant of the licence. You will then be required to pay an annual renewal fee to keep the licence in force. The premises licence fees, which vary between premises, have been selected from within predefined fee bands set by the Secretary of State.

Premises Type	Application Fee	Annual fee (first payable 30 days after grant of application)
Bingo	£1,662.00	£972.00
Betting premises	£2,401.00	£554.00
Tracks	£2,500.00	£1000.00
Family entertainment centre	£1,662.00	£678.00
Adult gaming centre	£1,662.00	£936.00

After a successful submission you are expected to advertise your application.

Advertising the application at the premises
You must display a notice about your application on the premises to which the application relates. The notice must be displayed for 28 days. The 28 days runs from the day on which the application is made to the council. The notice must be made by filling out the government prescribed form. You will find in this application pack a blank notice for you to fill out and use labelled GNOTICE1.

Do not obscure the notice in any way or make it difficult to read. Others must be able to read the notice from outside your premises. If your premises is within a complex or its own grounds and the public will be unable to view the notice or notices from the exterior of the site then you should also display a notice at the nearest public thoroughfare (such as at the entrance to the complex/site) so the notice is easily read by the passing public.

Once you have sent us your application one of our officers will visit your site to inspect the notice. If it is found that the notice or its positioning does not meet the requirements of the Act then we may ask you to redisplay the notice and we may reset your 28 day notice period or even return your application. 

Please feel free to contact us before you submit your application to clarify what our requirements will be in this regard so as to reduce the chances of this happening.

Advertising the application in a newspaper
You must also publish a notice about your application in a local newspaper which covers the area where the premises is located. The notice should appear on at least one occasion within 10 working days starting with the day after the day on which you made your application to the council. It must contain the same information as the notice placed on your premises but does not need to use the same dimensions, or font size.

Representations from any responsible authority will be accepted during the period of 28 days starting from when your application is made. If a valid representation is received, the application will be referred to the licensing sub-committee for determination. See additional information for ‘hearings’

Gambling Premises Licence Application

Download (543KB - ) 

The Gambling Act 2005 (the Act) contains three licensing objectives which are central to the regulatory regime created by the Act. They 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.

The Act controls the way commercial gambling is regulated in the United Kingdom. The Gambling Commission is the national gambling regulator and it issues operating licences to gambling companies and personal licences to gambling staff. Local councils are appointed as licensing authorities to issue premises licences for gambling premises in their areas. See paragraph 3.2 for more information on this.

In accordance with Section 349 of the Act the council has published a ‘Statement of Licensing Policy’ which sets out how we will approach our functions under the Act. It is important that your read and familiarise yourself with this document especially if you plan to submit an application to alter or exclude a default condition. (See section 3.5 for more information on this).

This document is available on the following page Gambling Policy or you can request a paper copy from the Licensing Section.

1) A plan must be submitted with all premises licence applications. Plans must be drawn to a suitable scale showing:

(a) The extent of the boundary or perimeter of the premises;
(b) Where the premises include, or consist of, one or more buildings, the location of any external or internal walls of each such building;
(c) Where the premises form part of a building, the location of any external or internal walls of the building which are included in the premises
(d)where the premises are a vessel or a part of a vessel, the location of any part of the sides of the vessel, and of any internal walls of the vessel, which are included in the premises;
(e) the location of each point of entry to and exit from the premises, including in each case a description of the place from which entry is made or to which the exit leads; and
 
2) In addition to the above the plan must also show:

For a Bingo Premises Licence
(a) The location and extent of any part of the premises which will be used to provide facilities for gaming in reliance on the licence
(b) The location and extent of any part of the premises in which Category B or C gaming machines will be made available for use in reliance on the licence
(c) The nature and location of any barrier or other thing separating any part of the premises in which Category B or C gaming machines will be made available for use from any other part of the premises.

For an Adult Gaming Centre Premises Licence
(a) The plan must show the location and extent of any part of the premises in which gaming machines will be made available for use in reliance on the licence

For a Betting Premises Licence (other than a track)…
(a) The plan must show the location and extent of any part of the premises which will be used to provide facilities for gambling in reliance on the licence.

For a Track Betting Premises Licence
(a) The location and extent of any part of the premises which is a †five times rule betting area
(b) The location and extent of any other parts of the premises which will be used for providing facilities for betting in reliance on the licence
(c) The location and extent of any part of the premises in which Category B or C gaming machines will be made available for use in reliance on the licence
(d) The nature and location of any barrier or other thing separating any part of the premises in which Category B or C gaming machines will be made available for use from any other part of the premises.

For a Family Entertainment Centre Premises Licence
(a) the location and extent of any part of the premises in which Category C gaming machines will be made available for use in reliance on the licence
(b)the location and extent of any part of the premises in which Category D gaming machines will be made available for use in reliance on the licence; and
(c) the nature and location of any barrier or other thing separating any part of the premises in which Category C gaming machines will be made available for use from any other part of the premises.

 (You must use one of the prescribed forms which are enclosed with the application pack).
Use the form labelled GNOTICE1A if you are a single applicant and use the form labelled GNOTICE1B if there are multiple applicants.)

Serve full application on:

The Licensing Authority
Doncaster Council
Civic Office
Waterdale
Doncaster
DN1 3BU
Email: licensing@doncaster.gov.uk
Tel: 01302 737590

Serve Notice on:

Gambling Commission
Victoria Square House
Victoria Square
Birmingham
B2 4BP
Fax: 0121 230 6720
Email: gclocalauthority@gamblingcommission.gov.uk
Telephone: 0121 230 6666

H M Revenue & Customs
National Registration Unit (Betting & Gaming)
Portcullis House
21 India Street
Glasgow
G2 4PZ
Tel: 0141 555 3633
Email: nrubetting&gaming@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk

South Yorkshire Police
Sheffield Licensing Team 
Carbrook House 
5 Carbrook Hall Road
Sheffield 
S9 2EH
Tel: 0114 252 3948 / 0114 252 3617
Email: don_licensing@southyorks.pnn.police.uk

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
Doncaster District Community Safety Office
Leicester Avenue
Doncaster
DN2 6AZ
Tel: 0114 2532802

Environmental Health Services
Doncaster Council
Civic Office
Waterdale
Doncaster DN1 3BU
Tel: 01302 737573

Planning Authority
Civic Office, Floor 4
Waterdale
Doncaster
DN1 3BU
Tel: 01302 736000

Doncaster Safeguarding Children Board
Safeguarding Business Unit
Floor 3
Civic Office
Doncaster
DN1 3BU
Tel: 01302 734747

This section describes the categories of gaming machine as set out in the Act (and in regulations) and the number of such machines that may be permitted in premises that hold a gambling premises licence.

• Table 1 below sets out the different categories of machines with the maximum stakes and prizes that will apply.
• Table 2 below shows the maximum number of machines permitted and in the case of the large casino the ratios between tables and machines.

Table 1

Category of machine	Maximum ''Stake''	Maximum Prize
A	Unlimited	Unlimited
B1	£5	£10,000*
B2	£100	£500
B3	£1	£500
B4	£2	£400
C	50p	£100
D	20p	£20 of which no more than £10.00 may be a money prize.

*or where the prize value available through its use is wholly or partly determined by reference to use made of one or more other sub-category B1 machines, no more than £20,000.

Table 2

	Machine category
Premises Type	A	B1	B2	B3	B4	C	D
Betting premises and tracks occupied by Pool Betting	X	X	Maximum of 4 machines categories B2 to D
Bingo Premises	X	X	X	Maximum of 4 machines categories B3 to B4		Unlimited	Unlimited
Adult Gaming Centre	X	X	X	No more than 20% of total machines categories B3 to B4		Unlimited	Unlimited
Family Entertainment Centre (with premises licence)	X	X	X	X	X	Unlimited	Unlimited

(X = category of machines not permitted on this type of premises)

 

If necessary (because valid objections have been received about your application) we will arrange a Licensing Sub Committee hearing to determine your application. The Licensing Sub Committee will be made up of three councillors. You will be notified not more than 10 working days before the date of the hearing. You will be sent a report containing the representations that have been received in respect of your premises licence application. You will also be sent guidance explaining the format of the hearing. At the outcome of the hearing the Sub Committee will either:

• Grant the licence as per the application
• Grant the application subject to additional default conditions. (this might include a reduction to the hours applied for)
• Refuse the application.

If you are not satisfied with the decision of the Sub Committee then you have a right of appeal to the Magistrates court. Information about how and when to make any appeal will be contained in your Sub Committee decision letter.

Mandatory conditions are automatically added to all relevant Premises Licences. Default conditions may be excluded by the Licensing Authority.

This document outlines the Mandatory and Default conditions that will be attached to Premises Licences for Bingo premises, Gaming Centres and betting premises issued under the Gambling Act 2005.

For conditions relating to other types of premises please contact the Licensing department.

All Premises Licenses
The following mandatory conditions will apply to all premises licences:
• A summary of the terms and conditions of the premises licence will be displayed in a prominent position on the premises;
• The layout of the premises must be maintained in accordance with the plan that forms part of the premises licence;
• National lottery products may not be sold on the premises; and
• There can be no direct access between one premises licensed under the Gambling Act 2005 and another premises licensed under the Gambling Act 2005 with the following exceptions:
- between bingo premises and alcohol licensed premises/ clubs with a club gaming or club machine permit/ FECs and tracks;
- between tracks and alcohol licensed premises/ clubs with a club gaming or club machine permit/ FECs /betting premises and bingo premises; and
- between FECs and alcohol licensed premises/ bingo halls/ clubs with club gaming or club machine permit and tracks.

Bingo Premises
The following mandatory conditions will apply to Bingo Premises licences only:

• A notice stating that no person under the age of 18 years is permitted to play bingo on the premises shall be displayed in a prominent place at every entrance to the premises.
• No customer shall be able to enter the bingo premises directly from a casino, adult gaming centre or betting premises (other than a track)
• Over 18s areas within bingo halls that admit under 18s must be separated by a barrier with prominently displayed notices stating that under 18s are not permitted in that area and with adequate supervision in place to ensure that children and young people are not able to access these areas or the category B or C machines. Supervision may be done either by placing the terminals within the line of sight of an official or via monitored CCTV.
• Any admission charges, the charges for playing bingo games and the rules of bingo must be displayed in a prominent position on the premises. Rules can be displayed on a sign, by making available leaflets or written material containing the rules or running an audio-visual guide to the rules prior to any bingo game being commenced.
• Any Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) made available for use on the premises shall be located in a place that requires any customer who wishes to use it to cease gambling in order to do so.

Default conditions – Bingo Premises

• Bingo facilities in bingo halls may not be offered between the hours of midnight and 9am. However, there are no restrictions on access to gaming machines in bingo halls.


Betting Premises (excluding tracks)
The following mandatory conditions will apply to Betting Premises (excluding tracks) licences only:

• A notice shall be displayed at all entrances to the betting premises stating that no person under the age of 18 shall be admitted.
• There should be no access to betting premises from other premises that undertake commercial activity (except from other premises with a betting premises licence including tracks). In addition, the entrance to a betting shop should be from the street(defined as any bridge, road, lane, footway, subway, square, court , alley or passage including passages through enclosed premises such as shopping centres whether thoroughfare or not).
• Any ATM made available for use on the premises shall be located in a place that requires any customer who wishes to use it to leave any gaming machine or betting machine to do so.
• No apparatus for making information or any other material available in the form of sounds or visual images may be used on the licence premises, except where the matter seen or heard is a sporting event and bets may have been affected on the premises in relation to this event. Betting operator-owned TV channels will be permitted.
• No music, dancing or other entertainment is permitted.
• The consumption of alcohol is prohibited on the premises.
• The only publications that may be sold on the premises are racing periodicals or specialist betting publications.
• Clear and accessible information about the terms on which a bet may be placed should be displayed in a prominent position on the premises.

Default conditions – betting premises (excluding tracks)

• Gambling facilities may not be offered in betting premises between the hours of 10pm on one day and 7pm on the next day, on any day.


Adult Gaming Centres (AGCs)
The following mandatory conditions will apply to AGC Premises licences only:

• A notice shall be displayed at all entrances to AGCs stating that no person under the age of 18 will be admitted.
• There can be no direct access between an AGC and any other premises licensed under the Act. There is no definition of direct access in the Act or regulations. However, it could be said that there should be an area separating the premises concerned, which the public go to for purposes other than gambling, for there to be shown to be no direct access.
• Any ATM available for use on the premises shall be located in a place that requires any customer who wishes to use it to cease gambling in order to do so.
• The consumption of alcohol in AGCs is prohibited. A notice stating this should be displayed in a prominent position on the premises.

Family Entertainment Centre (FECs)
The following mandatory conditions will apply to FEC Premises licences only:

• No customer shall be able to enter the premises directly from a casino, an adult gaming centre or betting premises (other than a track). There is no definition of direct access in the Act or regulations. However, it could be said that there should be an area separating the premises concerned, which the public go to for purposes other than gambling, for there to be shown to be no direct access.
• Any ATM available for use on the premises shall be located in a place that requires any customer who wishes to use it to cease gambling in order to do so.
• Over 18s areas within FECs that admit under 18s must be separated by a barrier with prominently displayed notices stating that under 18s are not allowed in that area and with adequate supervision in place to ensure that children and young people are not able to access these areas or the category B and C machines. Supervision may be done either by placing terminals within the line of sight of an official of the operator or via monitored CCTV.
• The consumption of alcohol in FECs is prohibited. A notice stating this should be in a prominent position on the premises.

The information above should be used as a guidance tool. Only the courts can give an authoritative opinion on statute law.

Every effort has been made to ensure this information is both comprehensive and accurate but in an attempt to simplify the law omissions have been made.

Please refer to the Gambling Act 2005 and associated regulations for full details of the law.

You should seek your own legal advice on the matters raised in this guidance note.

 

To make application to vary an existing gambling premises licence you should download and complete the application and guidance form attached to this page. 

Adult Gaming Centre	£972.00
Betting Premises (Track)	£1021.00
Betting Premises (Other)	£1,158.00
Bingo	£1,541.00
Family Entertainment Centre	£950.00

When control of an existing licensed gambling premises is to change to a different operator, it is necessary to apply to the licensing authority for the transfer of the licence.

Before any application can be made for the transfer of a premises licence, an application for a relevant operating licence must have been submitted to the Gambling Commission. Further details on operating licences and personal licences are available direct from the Gambling Commission, on 0121 230 6666, or through their website www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk

 

Please note that no premises licence will be issued before an appropriate operating licence is confirmed as granted.

 

Checklist

1. the transfer application form
2. the existing premises licence*
3. written consent to the transfer from the existing licence-holder
4. the appropriate application fee (detailed below)

*If it is not possible to provide the premises licence with your application, a statement as to why this is the case should be provided, along with an application for a duplicate copy of the licence.

5. When making a transfer application, a number of responsible authorities must be given notice of your application, within seven days of submission.

A format has been prescribed for this notice.

• Use Form A if only one individual or company is making the application.
• Use Form B if the application is being made jointly by two or more individuals and/or companies.

 

The completed application form and all of the accompanying documents should be sent to the licensing@doncaster.gov.uk or by post to:

Licensing Department, Doncaster Council, Civic Office, Waterdale, Doncaster, DN1 3BU.

Following receipt of a completed application, we will contact you with payment methods.

Bingo Premise Transfer fee - £972.00

Adult Gaming Centre transfer fee - £972.00

Betting Premise (Track) transfer fee - £950.00

Family entertainment Centre transfer fee - £950.00

Betting Premise (other) transfer fee - £972.00

There is a 28 day consultation period for this application.

 

Representations from any of the responsible authorities will be accepted during the period of 28 days starting from when your application is made. If a valid representation is received, the application will be referred to the licensing sub-committee for determination.

There is no requirement for newspaper or premises advertisements as part of a transfer application. Failing to properly notify the responsible authorities will delay the determination of your application.

Transfer Gambling Premises Licence_

Download (263KB - PDF)

Notice must be given to:

Gambling Commission
Victoria Square House
Victoria Square
Birmingham
B2 4BP
Fax: 0121 230 6720
Email: gclocalauthority@gamblingcommission.gov.uk
Telephone: 0121 230 6666 

H M Revenue & Customs
National Registration Unit (Betting & Gaming)
Portcullis House
21 India Street
Glasgow
G2 4PZ
Tel: 0141 555 3633
Email: nrubetting&gaming@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk

South Yorkshire Police
Sheffield Licensing Team
60 Attercliffe Common 
Sheffield 
S9 2AD
Tel: 0114 252 3948 / 0114 252 3617
Fax: 0114 252 3688
Email: don_licensing@southyorks.pnn.police.uk

Doncaster Safeguarding Children Board
Safeguarding Business Unit
Floor 3
Civic Office
Doncaster
DN1 3BU
Tel:01302 734747

It is required that an application to transfer a premises licence is accompanied by a written letter of consent from the existing licence-holder, to demonstrate that they consent to the licence being transferred to the new applicant. In some circumstances, it may not be possible to obtain consent from the existing licence-holder – for instance, if they have left the premises and their current whereabouts is unknown.

In these circumstances, the licensing authority has discretion to disapply the requirement to submit a letter of consent – however, it is expected that the applicant will have taken all reasonable steps to try and reach the licence-holder, and that a statement of these steps will be submitted in place of the letter of consent.  Please note that this provision does not apply if the previous licence-holder has refused to give consent to the transfer of the licence.