A premises licence, issued under the Gambling Act 2005, is required for any premises where an individual or company proposes to offer premises based gambling and are issued in respect of specific premises.

Premises licences are required for:

• casinos
• bingo premises
• adult gaming centre premises licences (enabling category C gaming machines to be made available for use at the premises)
• betting premises (enabling the provision of facilities for betting, by making or accepting bets or by acting as a betting intermediary)
• family entertainment centre (enabling category C gaming machines to be made available for use at the premises)

An application for a premises licence may be made by a person (which includes companies or partnerships):

• who have the right to occupy the premises
• who have an operating licence issued by the Gambling Commission, which allows him/her to carry out the proposed activity
• a premises licence can only authorise the use of the premises for one of the above types of activities, except in the case of a track
• an applicant for a premises licence must be over 18 years of age

Local Area Profile

Each locality has its own character and challenges. To assist applicants in producing a local risk assessment we have published a Local Area Profile (LAP).

The Local Area Profile should be given careful consideration when making an application.

It is not a mandatory requirement to have an LAP but an applicant who decides to disregard the profile may face additional representations and the expense of a hearing as a result.

How to apply

To apply for a new gambling premises licence or to vary an existing gambling premises licence you need to be aware of our Gambling licensing policy and the fees involved in the application before downloading our application forms.

Once complete you can return these to licensing@bcpcouncil.gov.uk.

You must also send your application to some or all of the Gambling Act responsible authorities. These are the public bodies that are entitled to make representations to the licensing authority in relation to applications under the Gambling Act.