Bingo in Pubs: the Story So Far

For those of you who may not have seen it, partner Tim Shield had an opinion piece published by Propel today by way of a commentary on the current position of Greene Kings attempts to obtain authorisation to operate higher stakes and prizes Bingo in some of their pub premises.

The article follows below:

You may have seen the toing and froing between Greene King and the Gambling Commission in relation to the attempts to obtain authorisation to operate higher stakes and prizes bingo in some of their pub premises. Bingo is the critical word!

The story started in earnest last year when Greene King's application for an operating licence to authorise higher stakes and prizes for bingo in pubs was refused by the Gambling Commission . Had the operating licence at that stage been granted then the next stage would have been to apply for individual premises licences under the Gambling Act to the local licensing authorities. It never got that far. Along with the appropriate authorisation to operate high stakes and prizes bingo would come the ability to offer certain higher jackpot gaming machines in pub premises (possibly the real benefit or prize (no pun intended) in all this. These machines would allow prizes of up to £500, as opposed to the normal pub machine prizes of £100.

The Gambling Commission refused the initial operating licence application. It did not contest the suitability or competence of Greene King or indeed the offer proposed by way of gambling activities put forward by Greene King but appear to have refused it on the basis of concerns relating to anticipated applications for bingo premises licences being subsequently made. Greene King appealed the decision to the First Tier Tribunal and was successful. In essence the First Tier Tribunal indicated that the stated reasons for refusal were not legitimate grounds for refusal.

The story far from ends there. The Gambling Commission subsequently and most recently sought and obtained permission to appeal; we shall see how that progresses.

Entirely separately but not unrelated the Gambling Commission have been undertaking a review of the social responsibility provisions in the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) for all gambling operators. The process started last summer and included a consultation which completed in October and has resulted in a response document and the amending of conditions which for the most part which come into force in May 2015. The interesting part (in relation to bingo) is that in this document, which extends to some 145 pages, and hidden away at page 124/125 are paragraphs in relation to bingo and gaming machines in pubs and clubs. This reiterates the position the Gambling Commission has expressed in the current battle with Greene King. What is also interesting is that in the response document the Gambling Commission refer to a number of responses received - 141. The Gambling Commission indicate that "the vast majority of respondents agreed with the risk to the licensing objectives and commissions policy objective."

It is perhaps not surprising that in a consultation in relation to general social responsibility and gambling the respondents appeared to be mainly from the gambling industry rather than the pub trade. It may perhaps be interesting to canvass the views of the pub and associate trade associations in relation to their views on bingo in pubs.

Certainly, on our reading of the law at the present time, what Greene King has proposed does not breach any of the laws that currently are in force. The Gambling Act aimed to permit gambling with suitable safeguards.

The law was not intended to restrain trade or competition. Some may say that gambling has moved on in all sorts of ways since 2009, when the Act came into, force but with the law as it stands it would seem to us that the proposed bingo in pubs provided the laws can be complied with as to financial suitability, competency and promotion of the licensing objectives, then there is no reason an application such as made by Greene King should not be successful. It will be interesting to see how the process unravels. At the moment we are aware of operators in the alcohol licensed trade who operate bingo within licensed premises outside what would be considered traditional bingo clubs. Is that not the purpose of the legislation, to permit gambling with suitable safeguards but not restrict competition?

Although a distinct issue, there are echoes of the "primary purpose" arguments the Commission pursued in relation to betting offices. There the Commission sought to ensure that betting offices provided a book along with the higher value machines. The Commission's policy of inferring intention not apparent on the face of the legislation is not new.

Our final point is perhaps something for the leisure industry (pub operators and the like) to consider as to whether they wish to become more actively involved in this area and through their trade organisations lobby and be seen to lobby more actively going forward. Most certainly it currently seems that the Gambling Commission has the loudest voice on this issue.