Gambling Act 2005: Legislative Reform Orders

The government is seeking views of two proposals to use powers under the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006 (LRRA) to amend the Gambling Act 2005 by means of a Legislative Reform Order (LRO) to:

1. remove restrictions on the employment of people under the age of 18 years at a track with a betting premises licence;
2. remove restrictions on the availability of entitlements to gaming machines at premises selling alcohol at airports.

These restrictions serve no regulatory purpose and have arisen purely as unintended consequences stemming from the implementation of the Gambling Act. In the case of tracks it is proposed to create an exemption for tracks to allow them to employ under-18s in non-gambling roles when betting might be taking place. In the case of premises selling alcohol at airports it is proposed to allow such premises to take advantage of the same gaming machine entitlements that are available to other alcohol licenced premises elsewhere in Great Britain.