Guidance

Licensing decisions: Procedures and guidance for licensing hearings

Guidance to assist Directors or the Regulatory Panel to carry out their licensing functions in accordance with our policies and procedures and to comply with the law.

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Published
16 May 2022

Last updated
13 June 2024 - Changes

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Contents

• Licensing decisions: Procedures and guidance for licensing hearings

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• 1 - Introduction
• The purpose of this guidance
• Scheme of delegations
• Referral of case to a licensing hearing
• The legal framework for decision making
• Conflicts of interest
• 2 - Preparing for the hearing
• Introduction
• Documentary and other evidence
• Case management hearings
• 3 - The hearing
• 4 - The Decision making process for determining licence applications
• Determining the facts
• Deciding whether to grant or refuse the application (in whole or in part)

The purpose of this guidance

The purpose of this guidance is to assist Directors or the Regulatory Panel (the Panel) to carry out their licensing functions in accordance with the Gambling Commission’s policies and procedures and to comply with the law¹.

A key aim of this guidance is to ensure that there are no grounds for suggesting that a decision maker has been biased, partial or that the decision is not well founded in any way. This guidance also seeks to ensure that the Commission meets the requirements of the Human Rights Act 1998 (opens in new tab) and the principles of natural justice.

This guidance needs to be read in conjunction with:

• the Statement of principles for licensing and regulation, issued pursuant to section 23 of the Gambling Act 2005 (‘the Act’) (opens in a new tab)
• the Licensing, Compliance and Enforcement policy statement.

The licensing objectives

In carrying out its functions under the Act, the Commission is under a duty to pursue and wherever appropriate have regard to the licensing objectives, which are:

• preventing gambling from being a source of crime or 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 people from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

The Commission must also aim to permit gambling, in so far as the Commission thinks it reasonably consistent with pursuit of the licensing objectives.

References

¹ There is a separate policy which provides guidance on Regulatory decision making entitled ‘Regulatory Decisions: Procedures and Guidance for Regulatory Decisions’ September 2017.

Next section
Scheme of delegations

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Last updated: 13 June 2024

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