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Gambling Premises Licences

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Provisional Statement

For premises that have yet to be constructed, or which will need significant amounts of work before they can be used for gambling activities, or where the operator has not yet obtained the right to occupy the premises, a Provisional Statement may be applied for. This is a precursor to a full premises licence, allowing an operator to access the likely opposition to any licence application before committing to the costs of development.

A Provisional Statement does not in its own right allow facilities for gambling to be provided – a premises licence must be obtained following development before the premises may actually be used. Representations will not be permitted against any premises licence application providing that all relevant information was provided in the provisional statement application, and there have been no material changes in circumstances since.

Applications for Provisional Statements can be made by any person or organisation, even if they do not hold (nor have applied for) an operating licence.  However, before any application can be made for a premises licence, an application for a relevant operating licence must have been submitted to the Gambling Commission. Further details on operating licences are available from the Gambling Commission. You should note that no premises licence will be granted before an appropriate operating licence has been granted.

To apply for a Provisional Statement, you must:

  • complete the prescribed application form   To see more about how we record and store your information please the Council’s privacy notice
  • give notice of your application to each of the Responsible Authorities.
  • you should have regard to our Statement of Policy and Principles.
  • accompany the application with the prescribed fee which can be by cash, cheque or Postal Order made payable to Hyndburn Borough Council.  We can also take payment over the telephone by either credit or debit card
  • Include a plan of the premises.  The plan must be clear and legible in all respects and must show:
  • – The boundaries or perimeter of the premises
    – Where the premises consist of one or more buildings, the location of the external or  internal walls of each building
    – Where the premises forms part of a building, the location of the external or internal walls of the building which are included in the premises
    – Where the premises are a vessel (boat) or a part of a vessel, the location of any part of the sides of the vessel and any internal walls which are
    included in the premises
    – The location of each entry and exit at the premises, including a description of the place from which the entry or to which the exit leads, and

You should note that the application process will not start until the fee is received.

Premises licences for the following activities have to show additional items on the plans. These are:

Bingo

  • The location and area of any part of the premises used to provide facilities for gaming (other than those parts which include Category B or C gaming machines);
  • The location and extent of any area in which Category B or C gaming machines will be made available for use; and
  • The nature and location of any barrier or other thing separating any area with Category B or C gaming machines from any other part of the premises.

Adult Gaming Centre

  • The location and extent of any part of the premises in which gaming machines will be made available.

Family Entertainment Centre

  • The location and extent of any part of the premises in which Category C gaming machines will be made available;
  • The location and extent of the area in which Category D gaming machines will be made available; and
  • The nature and location of any barrier or other thing separating any area with Category C gaming machines from any other part of the premises.

Betting (other than a track)

  • The location and extent of any part of the premises which will be used to provide gambling facilities

Betting (tracks)

  • The location and extent of any other areas which will be used for providing betting facilities
  • The location and extent of any part of the premises in which Category B or C gaming machines will be made available
  • The nature and location of any barrier or other thing separating any area with Category B or C gaming machines from any other part of the premises
  • You can use a legend to explain the symbols used on the plan.

You must give notice of your application to each of the Responsible Authorities within seven days, starting on the date on which the application was made. If you do not do this, your application will be invalid. The notice must be in the Form of notice for Responsible Authorities.

A notice must be published in a local newspaper (Accrington Observer or Lancashire Evening Telegraph) on at least one occasion during the period of ten working days starting on the day after the day on which the application was given. A copy of the newspaper advertisement should be forwarded to the Licensing Authority.

You must advertise your application at the premises with a site notice.  This notice must be displayed in a place where it can be conveniently read by members of the public from the exterior of the premises.  The poster must be displayed for a period of at least 28 days starting on the day the application was given to the Licensing Authority.

The Licensing Authority will check that:

  • The application is correctly completed
  • The Responsible Authorities have been notified
  • It has been advertised correctly

If there is a problem with the application, we may contact you for further information or return the application (or part of it) for your attention. Until these problems are solved your application is not valid and the consultation period will not start.

There is a legal 28 day consultation period during which representations can be made in relation to an application.  If we receive no representations within the 28 days, we will grant your application as applied for.  Where we receive relevant representations, we will hold a hearing of Licensing Committee to decide on the application (unless all parties agree that a hearing is not necessary). We will tell you about the arrangements for the hearing.

We will aim to hold the hearing within 20 working days following the final date for the receipt of representations.

After the Licensing Committee has heard all parties it will make its decision. It may:

  • Grant the application
  • Grant the application with additional conditions
  • Reject the application

This decision is usually made at the time of the hearing. This will be confirmed in writing with the reasons for the decision along with information on what you need to do if you want to appeal.

Both the applicant and anyone making representations can appeal to the local magistrates’ court if they are dissatisfied with the decision.

Unless otherwise specified, a Provisional Statement will not carry an expiry date, and cannot be surrendered or revoked. The Provisional Statement does not in itself authorise gambling activities, and a Premises Licence must be obtained at the conclusion of development works. If the planned development changes substantially from what is authorised by the Provisional Statement, then it will have no effect during the Premises Licence application – Either a new Provisional Statement must be obtained, or a new Premises Licence application must be made in its own right and not in reliance upon a Provisional Statement.