Bridgend Council’s Licencing Act Committee has approved an extension to existing gambling licence policies until 2025 (pdf).
Following a consultation, no significant changes (other than the removal of outdated terms) were proposed.
Gambling laws are not devolved to Wales and are the responsibility of the UK Government and UK Parliament.
A gambling licence issued by Bridgend Council is needed for a wide variety of different activities including casinos, bingo, bookmakers, family entertainment centres/seaside arcades and adult/fruit machine arcades.
Small scale community lotteries also have to be registered with BCBC while licenced premises with up to two arcade machines need to notify the council (more than two requires a licence). The council isn’t responsible for licensing online gambling.
One finding which may raise eyebrows is BCBC say there has been no noticeable increase in “problem gambling”. This is despite the issue being raised now and again in the Senedd by Labour MSs (albeit mainly related to advertising and online gambling) and growing concerns over gaming “loot boxes”.
“The Council has received no evidence of new trends or concerns in the land-based market it regulates. The Government review highlights that the steady industry growth and shift to online have seen neither a marked increase in overall gambling participation, nor an increase in population problem gambling rates.”
– Bridgend Council, Gambling Act 2005 Statement of Principles (pdf)
As of 2021, there are 114 premises (most of which are pubs and clubs) and 68 small scale lotteries which fall under BCBC’s licensing jurisdiction. These numbers have fallen since the previous review in 2018 when there were 159 premises and 120 small scale lotteries.
Social media raffle blindspot?
At the meeting itself (which you can watch here), Cllr. Malcolm James (Plaid, Llangynwyd) was told that complaints about gambling premises in Bridgend are “rare”.
Cllr. Tom Beedle (Ind, Maesteg East) added that there have been issues raised in the Maesteg area about raffles and prize draws held by non-registered bodies – such as running raffles on Facebook.
An officer clarified that small society lotteries generally need to be registered with the council if they’re selling raffle tickets in advance, but hinted at a possible blindspot regarding social media raffles that may be looked at as part of a UK Government review of gambling laws.
