Licensing Policy Documents
Licensing Act 2003
The Licensing Act 2003 came into force on 24 November 2005 and transferred the responsibility for licensing premises and persons selling alcohol from the courts to local authorities.
A requirement of the legislation is that all local authorities (or Licensing Authorities as they are known under the Act) must draft, consult on and publish a 'Statement of Licensing Policy'. The Statement of Licensing Policy must have regard to the content of a set of Guidance notes published by the Secretary of State.
The Act requires each Authority to review its Statement of Licensing Policy whenever necessary and, in any case, every five years. The Licensing Authority has recently completed the fifth review of its Statement of Licensing Policy, which was adopted and came into effect on 11 January 2021. It sets out how we plan to deal with applications made under the Act and balance people's desire for entertainment with residents' right to a peaceful nights’ sleep.
The Licensing Act 2003 can be found on the National Archives Legislation website and the Secretary of State's Guidance can be found on the Home Office website.
in 2012 the Government has also published a National Alcohol Strategy which can be found on the Home Office website.
Gambling Act 2005
The Gambling Act 2005 came into force on 1 September 2007 and replaced most of the existing law about gambling in Great Britain. The Act put in place an improved, more comprehensive structure of gambling regulation. It modernised 40-year-old gambling laws, ready to face the challenges of today and the future, while including a number of important protections.
It established The Gambling Commission, a new, independent national regulator for commercial gambling in Great Britain who are also the issuing authority for licences for operators of gambling businesses
The Gambling Act requires all Licensing Authorities to prepare, consult on and publish a Statement of Gambling Policy every three years, setting out how the Authority will manage the licensing of local gambling premises. The Council has now completed the fifth revision of its statement of Gambling Policy, which was adopted and comes into effect on 6 January 2022.
Guidance issued to Local Authorities by the Gambling Commission can be found on the Gambling Commission website.
Gambling Policy Review
The Licensing Authority is currently undertaking its 3 year review of its Statement of Gambling Policy, which was last published in January 2022. The proposed changes are identified in the Draft Statement of Gambling Policy and the summary of changes table which can be found on the Council’s Consultation Hub.
We are keen to hear from residents, businesses, licensees and anyone else with an interest in the Royal Borough. Please send comments on the draft policy to: Fiona Johnson Licensing Team Manager Council Offices 37 Pembroke Road London W8 6PW Or email: [email protected]. The closing date for comments is Sunday 18 August 2024.
If you have any enquiries regarding this Statement of Gambling Policy please contact the Licensing Team at: [email protected] or by telephone on 020 7341 5152.
For more information read the full Gambling Act 2005.
Help and support
If you or someone you know is struggling with gambling-related problems, contact the National Gambling Helpline, telephone 0808 8020 133.
Free of charge, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Enforcement Policy
The Licensing Team is part of the Environmental Health Service Group and is responsible for carrying out duties for various different licensing functions, including enforcement. When carrying out enforcement duties within the Borough licensing officers must have due regard to the Regulators’ Compliance Code, which places a number of obligations on local authorities when undertaking enforcement duties, among others, taking a consistent approach to enforcement and being proportionate in response to any licensing breaches. To achieve this the Council has adopted an enforcement policy which sets out the Environmental Health Service Group's general approach to enforcement.
Read the Environmental Health Service Group's Enforcement Policy