Source · Select Committees · Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Recommendation 19
19
Accepted in Part
Provide councils with guidance on applying cumulative impact assessments to gambling premises and review effectiveness.
Recommendation
We welcome the proposal to allow local authorities to use cumulative impact assessments (CIAs) in handling gambling premise licence applications. The Government must ensure councils are given guidance on how CIAs can be applied to gambling premises. It must also ensure this new power is reviewed in during the next Parliament to ensure it is having the intended effect. (Paragraph 103) Gambling regulation 61
Government Response Summary
The government agrees that local authorities should receive guidance on applying cumulative impact assessments (CIAs) to gambling premises, stating that primary legislation would prompt the Gambling Commission to amend its guidance.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
We agree that local authorities should be given guidance on how cumulative impact assessments (CIAs) can be used for gambling premises. As set out in the white paper, we hope that local authorities will benefit from CIAs, in part because they are familiar with them from alcohol licensing and in part because it explicitly allows them to consider the cumulative impact of gambling premises in a particular area. Subject to parliamentary time, the introduction of CIAs through primary legislation would also prompt the Gambling Commission to amend its guidance to licensing authorities to which they must have regard. This guidance forms an important part of the arrangements set out in the Gambling Act 2005, whereby the Gambling Commission is the dedicated regulator for gambling at a national level and licensing authorities (including licensing boards in Scotland) are the regulator at the local level.