Under the Gambling Act 2005, Shropshire Council is the licensing authority for the Shropshire Council area, with responsibility for licensing premises for gambling.
The gambling laws in Great Britain have been updated and a new regime for the regulation of commercial gambling established. The new laws came into force on 1 September 2007.
The Gambling Act 2005 replaces most of the existing laws about gambling in Great Britain and puts in place an improved, more comprehensive structure of gambling regulation. It modernises 40-year-old gambling laws, ready to face the challenges of today and the future. This includes a new structure of flexible protections for children and vulnerable adults and, in particular, brings the burgeoning Internet gaming sector within British regulation for the first time.
The Gambling Act has three very clear objectives:
- Protecting children and other vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling
- 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
Background
The independent Gambling Review Body recommended in 2001 that gaming machines be banned from unlicensed premises like chip shops and taxi offices so that children in particular should not be exposed to ambient gambling in premises where there may often be little supervision. This conclusion was subsequently endorsed by an all party committee of MPs that considered the draft Gambling Bill. The government accepted this recommendation and, as a result, the provision allowing for the granting of gaming machine permits for chip shops, taxi offices and similar premises was not replicated in the 2005 Act.
To apply for a licence, or for more information, please follow the links on this page.