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Guidance

Guidance to licensing authorities

The Gambling Commission's guidance for licensing authorities.

Published
1 April 2021

Last updated
19 April 2023 - Changes

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4 - Powers of entry in Scotland

36.18. In Scotland, the relevant licensing authority is called a licensing board. The powers of licensing boards are the same as to those of licensing authorities in England and Wales.

36.19. However, the wording of s.304(2) of the Act has created an anomaly in Scotland where the equivalent of a licensing officer is a licensing standards officer (LSO). Although s.304(2) of the Act was intended to provide licensing authorities with the opportunity to empower licensing authority staff already involved in licensing, it does not specifically apply to licensing standards officers in Scotland who are not directly employed as officers of the licensing authority but rather by the local authority. The licensing boards are separate and LSOs are deliberately legally separated from the boards.

36.20. S.304(3) and (4) of the Act provide licensing authorities in Scotland with the opportunity to empower LSOs and council staff involved in other regulatory roles, such as trading standards officers and environmental health officers, to exercise the powers of authorised persons under the legislation. Indeed, council staff like environmental health officers are already authorised persons under the Act by virtue of the legislation they enforce.

36.21. The Commission encourages local authorities to deploy suitably trained authorised persons under the Act to ensure that gambling is regulated effectively and that the public are afforded the protections set out in the three licensing objectives. The advice note The role of authorised persons in Scotland (opens in new tab) (this advice does not form part of the Guidance to licensing authorities) sets out the Commission’s understanding of the powers of authorised persons in Scotland. The note also offers guidance to licensing authorities and others about how they might contribute to effective co-regulation of the gambling industry in Scotland.

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