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Gambling Policy - Revised Statement of Principles

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This consultation has now closed.

Have your say on our proposed revised statements of principles that we are planning to update in our Gambling Policy.

London Borough of Barnet is the Licensing Authority under the provisions of the Gambling Act 2005 and responsible for the administration and enforcement of Premises Licences and Permits under the Act, for example: betting shops, bingo halls, amusement arcades, the provision of gaming machines in clubs and alcohol premises and small society lottery registrations.

Under the Gambling Act 2005, the Local Authority must prepare a written Statement of Principles. This Statement of Principles must be reviewed and adopted every 3

Have your say on our proposed revised statements of principles that we are planning to update in our Gambling Policy.

London Borough of Barnet is the Licensing Authority under the provisions of the Gambling Act 2005 and responsible for the administration and enforcement of Premises Licences and Permits under the Act, for example: betting shops, bingo halls, amusement arcades, the provision of gaming machines in clubs and alcohol premises and small society lottery registrations.

Under the Gambling Act 2005, the Local Authority must prepare a written Statement of Principles. This Statement of Principles must be reviewed and adopted every 3 years and sets out how the council will carry out its licensing functions whilst having regard to the guidance issued by the Gambling Commission and the promotion of the three licensing objectives, which are:

  • preventing gambling from being a source of crime and disorder, being associated with crime and disorder, or being used to support crime
  • ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way
  • protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling.


Your views are important to us

We want to hear your views on our proposed revision of Barnet’s Gambling Statement of Principles. We want to hear from residents, current licence holders, Licensing Agents/Solicitors, Gambling Support Organisations, and all other interested parties. To find out more about the proposed changes please read our Revised Statement of Principles document and also the summary document.


How to have your say:

Complete our online questionnaire

We are keen to hear your views on our proposals and encourage you to have your say by completing our online questionnaire.

If you would like to request a paper questionnaire or another format, please:

  • email licensingconsultation@barnet.gov.uk(External link) or telephone 020 8359 7443.
  • alternatively, you can write to us at Licensing Team, Commercial Premises, London Borough of Barnet, 2 Bristol Avenue, Colindale, NW9 4EW.

If you would like someone to help you complete the questionnaire or need more information, please contact us using one of the above methods.


What happens after the consultation closes?

The Licensing Team will include the consultation findings in a report that will be put before the Licensing & General Purposes Committee in November 2023. At Novembers meeting the Committee will decide upon any proposed amendments to the revised statement of principles following the consultation. The revised document will then pass through Scrutiny and Full Council Committees being the Statement of Principles is finally published on the Councils website. The council will use the consultation findings to inform our Childcare Sufficiency Assessment. We will publish the findings form the consultation on this web page in January 2024.

This consultation has now closed.

  • We asked, you said, we did

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    We asked

    We asked for your views on the revised Gambling Statement of Principles, which The Gambling Act 2005 requires the Council to review and publish every three years.

    You said

    A total of 16 responses were received.

    The analysis of the responses indicated that 54% of the respondents thought positively about the introduction of a more detailed Local Area Profile and gambling vulnerability zones within the draft Gambling Statement of Principles. 38% were not in favour of any Gambling being carried out in the borough and 8% neither agreed nor disagreed with the content of the same document.

    Of the 38% of respondents who were not in favour of the draft Gambling Statement of Principles the respondents either did not wish for any Gambling taking place in Barnet or sought for the Licensing Authority to restrict the number of licensed premises being granted.

    The Gambling Act 2005 does not give the Licensing Authority the ability to restrict the number of licensed premises opening in a particular area. We believe that the additions to the Local Area Plan will go some way to ensuring that any licences granted, do not attract additional criminal activities. In addition, the risk assessment submitted with each new application should seek to address issues such as the location of its premises to vulnerable groups and set out ways in which it can limit its potential negative impact upon an area.

    We did

    Following the consultation feedback, we amended and updated the draft document where appropriate/possible to do so. In addition to these amendments the Licensing Team are now working with our Insight and Intelligence team and looking to develop, in advance of the next revision of this Statement of Principles, a comprehensive intelligence led local area profile dashboard. This dashboard will enable applicants, licence holders and any other interested parties to consider relevant issued faced in the specific area that the premises in question is located.

    You can view the Full Council decision to approve the revised Gambling Statement of Principles here.