Gambling - Proposals for changes to Commission Fees

The Gambling Commission and Department of Culture Media and Sport have published a joint consultation on proposed changes to Gambling Fees.

A Link to the Gambling Commission release on this subject  can be found here.

Some of the main points highlighted by the Gambling Commission are as follows:

“The proposals in this consultation

• take account of the significant changes to our costs and income following the implementation of the Gambling (Licensing & Advertising) Act 2014,
• reflect the efficiencies we have achieved in our expenditure, and would reduce the overall fee burden across the industry by an estimated 10%,
• ensure that our costs continue to be recovered on a proportionate basis from different types and sizes of operator, and
• address other issues identified in the current fees structure.

It also proposes some important modifications to the fees structure, including:

• the replacement of ‘number of premises’ with gross gambling yield (GGY) as the basis for fee categories across a number of licences,
• the sub-division of various fee categories into smaller categories to ensure that our costs are recovered through fees on a fairer basis,
• the re-alignment of our cost recovery more proportionately in relation to GGY. "

Also of interest to operators is a fees calculator for individual operators which has been produced. The Gambling Commission state this can be used to “to see the proposed fee for each licence type and fee category”.

The consultation closes on 9 September with the finalised proposals expected to be implemented in April 2017.