Bacta Warns Licence Revocation Could Trigger Legal Challenge

Bacta has drawn a firm legal line over the government’s planned gambling reforms: restricting new venues is one thing, taking away licences from established businesses is another.

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The trade body has warned that it could seek a judicial review if ministers give councils broader powers to revoke existing Adult Gaming Centre licences without evidence that operators have breached licensing requirements.

The dispute comes ahead of a government consultation on changes to the Gambling Act’s statutory aim to permit principle. The reforms are expected to affect betting shops and bingo halls as well as AGCs.

For Bacta, the distinction matters. Its members include businesses that have operated for decades, with long-serving employees and established premises that were licensed under the existing framework.

The organisation argues that removing those licences simply because an area already has a high concentration of gambling venues would go far beyond the current licensing system.

The warning puts the industry on a collision course with campaigners seeking much stronger local control.

The Fight Over Existing Venues

Campaigners including James Noyes want councils to have more than the power to stop another gambling venue from opening. They want local authorities to be able to reassess existing premises and, where necessary, remove licences.

That would fundamentally change the practical effect of the proposed reform.

The argument from campaigners is that the problem is no longer just future growth. Existing gambling venues are already heavily concentrated in some high streets, particularly in poorer communities.

Research from the Social Market Foundation has linked the concentration of adult gaming centres with deprivation and anti-social behaviour. Its deputy research director, Jamie Gollings, has argued that councils are better placed than central government to decide what their high streets need, but that the current aim to permit rule has limited their ability to act.

Matt Zarb-Cousin has taken the argument further. Removing the principle, in his view, would restore greater discretion to licensing authorities and make it easier for councils to challenge both applications and existing licences.

That is precisely where the industry’s concerns begin.

Bacta president Joseph Cullis has argued that operators should not be treated as businesses that need to be removed simply because they belong to the gambling sector. Many have been trading for decades, and their employees depend on those businesses continuing to operate.

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Bacta also maintains that low-stakes gambling has long been part of working-class leisure and says it plans to publish further research on venue concentration.

The disagreement is therefore not simply about new licences. It is about whether the reform should be used to shrink the existing retail gambling estate.

Where Councils Could Hit a Legal Wall

There is also a legal problem.

Licensing solicitor Leigh Schelvis has warned that revoking licences because an area contains too many gambling venues could be vulnerable to challenge. Operators that obtained licences lawfully and continue to meet the statutory licensing objectives could argue that the nature of their business alone is not enough to justify removal.

That distinction could become critical once councils begin applying any new powers.

If the government allows local authorities to move from controlling new applications to reassessing established licences, the courts could ultimately be asked to determine how far those powers extend.

The consequences would reach beyond AGCs. A broader interpretation of local licensing powers could produce markedly different approaches between councils, with operators facing tougher conditions in some areas than in others.

For campaigners, that would provide a mechanism to reduce gambling venues already operating on the high street.

For operators, it could turn a licence once granted under one set of rules into something far less secure.

The government’s forthcoming consultation will determine how much of that conflict is resolved in legislation and how much is left for councils, operators and potentially the courts to fight over.

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Source: igamingexpress.com