Dorset Council - Gambling Policy Consultation

Overview

The Council, as Licensing Authority under the Gambling Act 2005, is required to publish a Statement of Gambling Licensing Policy at least every three years. The purpose of the policy statement is to define how the Council will exercise its responsibilities under the Act.

The draft revised policy has been prepared by officers and and is now ready to be published, in draft format, for a period of public consultation.

The changes to the policy are of a minor nature and generally consist of updated statistics and links to other polices as well as some enhancements to the protections for vulnerable persons. We expect there to be further changes to the Gambling Act 2005 by the Government in the near future and once those changes are made the policy will be reviewed again and a further consultation carried out at that time.

The draft revised statement of Gambling Licensing Policy 2024-2027 is available on Dorset Council's website. 

If you would like to access the policy or this survey in a different format, please contact the licensing team at 01305 838028 or licensing@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk

The Statement of Gambling Licensing Policy sets out how the council will carry out its functions under the Gambling Act 2005 with a view to promoting the licensing objectives namely:

• prevent gambling from being a source of crime and 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 persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

The Statement of Gambling Licensing Policy has been prepared in line with the
requirements of the Gambling Act 2005, as well as the Statutory Guidance issued by the Gambling Commission.

As required by Act and guidance issued by the Gambling Commission, the Council, in carrying out its licensing functions under the Act will aim to permit the use of premises for gambling as long as it is considered to be:

• in accordance with any relevant code of practice issued by the Gambling Commission,
• in accordance with any relevant guidance issued by the Commission,
• reasonably consistent with the licensing objectives and
• in accordance with this Policy Statement published under section 349 of the Act

The current policy can be found on Dorset Council's website. 

Dorset Council will also ensure that your data is stored appropriately. See details of our Data Privacy and GDPR policy

Why your views matter

An Equalities Impact Assessment (EqIA) has been drafted and will be updated following the close of consultation.

We invite your comments to make sure we have considered a wide range of views, which will help shape the final Dorset policy.

We want to hear from as many organisations and individuals as possible.