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Guidance

Information requirements from licensing authorities

Details on the information that we require from licensing authorities.

Published
20 October 2021

Last updated
19 October 2021 - Changes

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Club gaming permits and club machine permits

Club gaming permits

A club gaming permit allows non-commercial members’ clubs or miners’ welfare institutes to offer:

  • equal chance gaming such as poker and bingo
  • games of chance (pontoon and chemin de fer only)
  • up to three gaming machines in total of categories B3A, B4, C or D, but by agreement, only one machine can be of category B3A.

Club machine permits

A club machine permit allows members’ clubs, miners’ welfare institutes, and commercial clubs to offer:

  • equal chance gaming such as poker and bingo
  • up to three gaming machines in total of categories B3A, B4, C or D, but by agreement, only one machine can be of category B3A.

Restrictions on the gaming allowed, such as limits on stakes and prizes, apply to both permit types.

Club gaming and club machine permits, and renewals of these, are issued by licensing authorities. When a club or institute applies for a permit, they must a copy the application to us and their local police force.

After a licensing authority decides a permit application (either by granting it or refusing it) the licensing authority must notify us of their decision and the reasons for it. The authority must also tell us if they cancel a permit, for example if the holder fails to pay its annual fee, or if a permit holder commits an offence or breaches the conditions of the permit.

To help us maintain accurate records, we find it useful if licensing authorities also inform us if they renew a permit, or if a club, institute, or commercial club surrenders it.

Notifications of permit grants, refusals, cancellations, renewals, or surrenders must be sent, by email, to gclocalauthority@gamblingcommission.gov.uk.

Email notifications must include the following information:

  • name of the applicant (as it appears on the standard application form)
  • address of the applicant (as it appears on the standard application form)
  • type of decision/notice (grant, renewal grant, refusal, cancellation, surrender)
  • date of the decision/notice
  • reason(s) for a refusal or cancellation (if appropriate).

Notifications should be sent to us within a month of the decision date.

Additionally, licensing authorities must report total numbers of club gaming permits and club machine permits in their annual Licensing Authority return. This data is published in our annual Licensing Authority Statistics.

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