Gambling - Commission Wins Greene King Appeal

We have previously reported that Greene King had been successful in their appeal against the refusal of the Gambling Commission for an Operating Licence to authorise bingo (and therefore higher jackpot gaming machines) in its pubs.

The Gambling Commission appealed against that decision last year with the judgment being issued this month. In brief, the Gambling Commission has been sucessful in its appeal, with the Upper Tribunal finding that that it acted within its powers when refusing Greene King a bingo operating licence to provide commercial bingo in its pubs.

Judge Levenson found that the Commission has the legal authority to refuse an application for an Operating Licence if it considers granting the application would not be reasonably consistent with the licensing objectives, although whether the decision to refuse was correct on its merits was not considered.

The case to be sent back to the First-tier Tribunal for reconsideration. A copy of the decision can be found here.

We will keep you updated with any further developments.