Guidance for tackling under-age gambling in pubs

On Thursday, the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) and UKHospitality jointly published guidance for tackling under-age gambling in pubs.

The key principles of the Charter are:

• To collaborate across the pub sector and with other industry stakeholders to address under-age and problem gambling where it occurs within pubs.
• To ensure pub staff understand and meet their legal responsibilities and have support in tackling under-age gambling if it occurs in pubs. Under the Gambling Act 2005 it is illegal to allow those under the age of 18 to play Category C ‘AWP’ machines even if they are accompanied by an adult.
• To co-operate with regulatory and enforcement bodies, such as Licensing Authorities and the Police, as relevant to the issue of gambling in pubs.
• To engage and work with the Gambling Commission, e.g. in developing initiatives, strategies and policies, sharing information, assisting in research.
• To support the work undertaken by GambleAware, particularly to better understand the specific issues that arise from gambling in pubs and how to address them.

The publication of this guidance follows criticism from the Gambling Commission regarding high failure rates following national test purchase operations of almost 90%.