Gaming premises

A premises licence is needed where an individual or company wishes to provide facilities for premises based gambling which include:

  • Betting (track and non-track)
  • Bingo
  • Casinos
  • Adult Gaming Centres (AGC)
  • Family Entertainment Centres (FEC)

To be able to apply for a premises licence an individual or company must:

  • have the right to occupy the premises; and
  • hold an operators licence from the Gambling Commission (which allows him/her to carry out the proposed activity) or have applied for an operators licence (the premises licence will only be issued once the operators licence has been issued by the Gambling Commission).

Where your premises still needs to be built, needs major alterations, or you do not have the right to occupy it, you will need to apply for a provisional statement.

If a licence is granted do I need to keep it on the premises?

Yes the premises licence holder must keep the licence on the licensed premises and make it available for inspection to a police officer; an enforcement officer; and an authorised officer of the Council. It is also a requirement to display prominently the summary document of the licence within the premises.

Application Forms

Printable application forms can be either downloaded from the Gambling Commission's Website or via request from the Licensing Team

Additional documents for applicants

The Licensing Authority has produced various documents to assist applicants with their application including local contact details for responsible authorities and fees for applications:

Babergh District Council

Gambling Commission

The Gambling Commission was set up under the Gambling Act 2005 to regulate commercial gambling in Great Britain.

Gambling Commission

Gambling problem/addiction

If you or someone you know is affected by problem gambling or addiction then confidential help, support and advice is available. One such organisation is GamCare:

GamCare