Gambling Policy Statement

Appendix D

Extract From Gambling Commission's Guidance To Licensing Authorities 

8.14 The factors that licensing authorities should take into account when determining what "sufficiently close to the premises" means (in each case) might include:

• the size of the premises;
• the nature of the premises;
• the distance of the premises from the location of the person making the representation;
• the potential impact of the premises (number of customers, routes likely to be taken by those visiting the establishment); and
• The circumstances of the complainant. This is not the personal characteristics of the complainant, but the interests of the complainant which may be relevant to the distance from the premises. For example, it could be reasonable for an authority to conclude that "sufficiently close to be likely to be affected" could have a different meaning for (a) a private resident, (b) a residential school for children with truanting problems, and (c) a residential hostel for vulnerable adults.

(b) Persons with business interests that could be affected.

8.15 It could be argued that any gambling business could be affected by another gambling business expanding into any part of Great Britain, but that is unlikely to be enough to satisfy the test of being "a person with business interests that might be affected by the premises" under consideration. For example, an operator in a particular sector (be it casino, bingo, betting, etc.,) should not be able to lodge representations on every application put in by a rival operator anywhere in the country, simply because they are in competition within the same gambling sector. The licensing authority should be satisfied that the relevant business is likely to be affected. In this respect, licensing authorities should bear in mind that the "demand test" in the 1963 and 1968 Acts has not been preserved in the 2005 Act. Factors that are likely to be relevant include:

• the size of the premises;
• the 'catchment' area of the premises (i.e. how far people travel to visit); and
• whether the person making the representation has business interests in that catchment area, that might be affected.