The Licensing Authority will begin consultation on our Draft Statement of Principles from Monday 1 March 2010. This web page explains how to access the policy document and how to comment.

Statement of Principles/ Gambling Policy

Swale Borough Council is the Licensing Authority under the provisions of the Gambling Act 2005 and responsible for the administration and enforcement of Premises Licences and Permits under the Act.

The Act authorises the use of premises for any of the following gambling activities:

• Bingo,
• Betting Shop,
• Tracks (racing),
• Adult Gaming Centre,
• Family Entertainment Centre;

And the use of Gaming Machines in conjunction the following permits:

• Club Gaming Permit
• Club Machine Permit
• Alcohol Licensed Premises (Gaming Permit)
• Unlicensed Family Entertainment Centre

Under the Gambling Act 2005, the Local Authority must prepare a written Statement of Principles, and have regard to the guidance issued by the Gambling Commission (May 2009). This Statement of Principles sets out how the council will carry out its licensing functions with a view to promoting the three licensing objective:

• Preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime and 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.

This draft Statement of Principles is proposed to supersede the existing Gambling Policy. The approach taken and principles applied were:

• Ensuring Compliance with Legislation
• Improve referencing
• Support applicants by including all relevant information
• Incorporating best practice, professional layout and presentation
• Use of plain English

Consultation

The Licensing Authority will begin consultation on the Draft Statement of Principles from Monday 1 March 2010.

The consultation will be for a period of twelve weeks to ensure that we give full consideration to the views made, and we welcome comments from our statutory partners, businesses involved in the licensed trade, interested parties and the local community.

Your comments or suggestions are important to us and contribute to the review process. Please send any response/ comments you wish to be considered to:

Licensing Department, Swale Borough Council or via email to licensing@swale.gov.uk.

The closing time for representation is Monday 24 May 2010 at 12 noon.

If you require a paper copy of the existing or draft Gambling Policy, please contact the Licensing Department on 01795 417364. However a copy of the draft Policy and the existing is available to download below.

Download the Policy

You can download the current and draft (for consultation) Gambling Policy documents below: