Islj 2009 3-4 - TMC Asser Instituut

In addition to the introduction of revised arrangements for operators
who provide facilities for a remote casino, remote bingo and remote
betting on virtual events, there are additional changes to fee bandings
and for calculating working days for on-course greyhound bookmakers.
A new fee arrangement is introduced for off-course bookmakers
who do not provide gaming machines on their licensed betting premises.
Each licence holder will receive notice of the change to the annual
fee in writing from the Commission. Any operator who considers the
changes detailed below will alter their licence category or type are able
to contact the Commission.
Employees in the bingo and casino industry who still hold certificates
of approval, issued under section 19 of the Gambling Act 1968
known as section 19 certificates must have applied for their new personal
licence before the end of August 2009 in order to guarantee
their application is determined by the end of the year. Any existing
section 19 certificates will cease to have legal effect on 31 December
2009. 21
It has been well document that there are still a number of licensees
working without a licence. The Commission’s Director of Regulation,
Nick Tofiluk said in a press release in August:
“We have already received hundreds of applications but we believe
there are still people out there who need to apply. Any bingo or casino
worker still operating under the permissions granted prior to
September 2007 under a section 19 certificate will put their employment
status at risk if they do not get their application to the
Commission...” 22
Changes to Fees
The operator licence application fees from 1 st August 2009 have been
reduced by 5% to reflect increased efficiency and two new types of
licence have been introduced.
New Types of Licence
A new remote licence type will be available for operators who provide
facilities for remote betting on the outcome of a virtual game, race or
other event or process. This licence type is known as General betting
standard (virtual events only). For clarity the previous remote licence
type, General betting standard, is now known as General betting standard
(real events).
Betting operators who in addition to betting on real events such as
sports events, offer virtual racing through means of remote communication
will now require both a General betting standard (virtual
events) and a General betting standard (real events) licence.
The fee categories for this type of licence will be based on annual
gross gambling yield.
21 Section 19 certificates were issued to
people working in specified roles within
the bingo and casino industries. On 1
September 2007 the previous arrangements
were replaced by the Gambling
Act 2005 which introduced personal
management licence (PML) and personal
function licences (PFL). Existing section
19 certificate holders were given two
years to make their personal licence
applications to the Commission.
22 August deadline only three weeks away
for section 19 certificate holders; Press
release, 11 August 2009, The Gambling
Commission.
23 Currently costing on average £ payable
directly to the Criminal Records Bureau.
24 The rolling programme of mystery shopping
exercises is one feature of the
Commissions ongoing compliance activity.
It covers on line gambling, betting
shops and AGCs and works closely with
LACORS and individual local authorities
to ensure compliance. The mystery
shopping exercises use under age volunteers
(with parental consent) as permitted
under Section 64 of the Gambling
Act 2005 to assess whether effective controls
are in place to prevent under age
gambling.
New Licence Fee Categories and Changes in Banding
The new fees include revised arrangements for calculating working
days for General betting (limited) licence holders. This is to recognise
the anomalous market conditions faced by operators standing at
Bookmakers’ Afternoon Greyhound Service (BAGS) greyhound
meetings staged for broadcast to the off-course betting industry,
rather than to satisfy local market demand.
An operator who stands at a meeting televised and shown at a betting
premises run by a Commission operating licence holder which
starts after 8am and ends after 7pm at, for example, a BAGS meeting,
need not count that meeting towards the overall total number of days
in determining the appropriate banding for a General betting (limited)
licence.
The annual fee for general betting standard licence holders in categories
A-C who do not provide gaming machines on their licensed
betting premises will be held at 2008 levels. Application fees for general
betting standard licence holders in categories A-C are set at the
same level for those providing gaming machines and those who don’t.
All fee bandings that are set with reference to gross gambling yield,
gross gaming yield and gross value of sales will be increased by 10% to
reflect changes in prices since their original establishment. There has
been a 10% increase in the fee bandings for external lottery managers
and an anomaly in them has been corrected.
Multiple Licences
The discount on annual fees for each licence applied to operators
holding multiple licence types will be reduced from 10% to 5% to
reflect the actual cost of delivering compliance and enforcement
work.
Personal Licences
Personal licences increases are to reflect increased costs, in particular
those relating to processing Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks. 23
The changes to personal licence fees set out in consultation proposals,
will take effect on 11 August 2009. The Personal Functional Licence
application fee rises from £165 to £185 and the Personal Management
Licence application fee increases from £330 to £370.
The ultimate aim of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
and the Gambling Commission is to keep gambling fair and safe for
all.
The Gambling Commission carries out a rolling programme of
mystery shopping exercises as part of its ongoing compliance programme.
The programme looks at various aspects of social responsibility
and the Commission will be retesting betting operators who
have previously been found wanting or are suspected of foul play.
In May 2009 a mystery shopping exercise undertaken by the
Commission throughout England revealed a disturbing failure rate.
The exercise covered all the major betting operators, accounting for
around 80% of betting shops, and the initial results showed that in
98% of the 100 shops visited a 17 year old was allowed to place a bet
at the counter.
As a result senior executives at the companies involved were called
in and asked to take immediate action to improve matters. The operators
concerned have already taken significant action to address the
situation including working with the Association of British
Bookmakers (ABB) to produce an action plan and supplementary
code of practice on age verification. The Commission also wrote to all
other betting operators highlighting their findings and subsequent
concerns.
As a continuing programme the Commission will be conducting
mystery shopping exercises at a number of licensed betting operator’s
premises in the future. These exercise will revisit operators already
tested and also test a number of smaller betting operators. As part of
the ongoing programme, the Commission is planning a similar exercise
on Adult Gaming Centres. 24
Betting put to good use
The Levy Board is a public body that raises money for the improvement
of horseracing and the advancement of veterinary science and
education. It does this through collecting a statutory levy from bookmakers.
Recently Paul Lee, a senior partner and Board Chairman at
Addleshaw Goddard LLP, was appointed as the new Chair of the
Horserace Betting Levy Board taking up over the post from Robert
Hughes CBE on 1 October 2009 for a four year term.
Saying of his appointment:
“I am delighted to be joining the Levy Board, particularly at a chal-
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