Statement of Gambling Policy Review consultation 2019

This consultation has now closed

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets acting as a licensing authority must determine and publish a Statement of Gambling Policy at least once every three years, in line with statutory guidelines. In respect of this we have reviewed our current Statement of Gambling policy 2016 – 2019. 

However before determining this we must carry out statutory consultation. This consultation will run for 12 weeks commencing on 4 April 2019 and finishing at 00:00 hours on 27 June 2019.

In connection with this statutory consultation we seek your views in relation to this review.

Local authorities are required to have a Statement of Gambling Policy as per the Gambling Act 2005.  Regulation of gambling is split between the Gambling Commission and local authorities with the gambling authorities regulating operators, i.e. business who provide gambling, and local authorities regulating premises i.e. the physical area/premises where gambling takes place.

The Gambling Act 2005 has three licensing objectives that a licensing authority must incorporate into any strategy. These 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
• protecting children and other vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

The licensing authority is obliged to protect vulnerable people, and the licensing policy is devoted to achieving this, across a range of premises licences and permits which the authority will administer.

The licensing authority would also be interested to know if you have any concerns about Illegal gambling within the borough. This is gambling conducted without the require licences or notifications.