Gambling

The Gambling Act 2005 governs all gambling activity in the country other than the National Lottery and spread betting. The Act is regulated by the Gambling Commission nationally and by Wakefield Council as the local licensing authority.

While the Gambling Commission handles operator and personal licences, Wakefield Council is responsible for issuing and regulating permits and premises licences within the district.

The Act outlines three main gambling objectives. These are prioritised when authorising any gambling activity. Our duty is to promote these objectives, and they are as follows:

• preventing gambling from
  • being a source of crime and disorder
  • being associated with crime or disorder
  • being used to support crime
• making sure that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way
• protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling

The council is responsible for the issue of the following premises licences:

• adult Gaming
• betting
• bingo
• casinos
• family Entertainment Centres
• Track betting

The Gambling Act 2005 also covers the issuing of Permits for various activities:

• club Gaming
• club Gaming Machines
• family Entertainment Centre Gaming Machines
• licensed Premises Gaming Machines
• prize Gaming

Table of fees

Further information and application forms can be found in related documents or by visiting the gambling commission website here.

Small Society Lottery Registration

The Act also allows the council to register small-society or non-commercial lotteries.

Society lotteries are lotteries promoted for the benefit of a non-commercial society. A society can be considered non-commercial if it is established and conducted for:

• charitable purposes
• the purpose of enabling participation in, or of supporting, sport, athletics or a cultural activity
• any other non-commercial purpose other than that of private gain

A qualifying society can operate without a Gambling Commission licence. This is as long as they register with the Council where their main office is located.

After each lottery, the society needs to submit a 'return' to the Council within three months of the draw.

You can find more information about the registration conditions in the guidance notes available here.

Applying for a Small Society Lottery Registration

Please complete the application form here and post to us at our Licensing Office address (see contact information below).

Conditions of application

• your society must be non-commercial
• lotteries must not exceed £20,000 in ticket sales and £250,000 in a year
• at least 20% of the lottery proceeds must be applied to the purposes of the society
• no single prize may be worth more £25,000
• every ticket in the lottery must cost the same and must be paid for before entry into the draw is allowed

​Making a complaint about a gambling premises or transaction

If you want to make a complaint about licensed gambling premises, then please contact us. If you want to complain about a gambling transaction then please contact the Gambling Commission directly through their website here. ​

Online Register

If you wish to see further information on licences granted you can view these on the online register here.