Gambling legislation reforms
Gaming, Betting and Lotteries Act 1988 reforms
General commentary on the descriptions of changes in this consultation
The commentary below focuses solely on the substantive changes currently proposed in the FSA Bill and the GSC Bill. In the interest of keeping this document concise, it does not generally address consequential or ancillary amendments made to support the implementation of those substantive changes.
Please note that the descriptions provided are of the proposals as they currently stand. These may be subject to revision following the outcome of the public consultation or during the legislative process in the branches of Tynwald.
Read the changes to the Gaming, Betting and Lotteries Act 1988
Updates to Lotteries provisions
Many of the existing provisions in the Act relating to lotteries included outdated references to UK legislation that has since been repealed. This Bill takes the opportunity to modernise those references by aligning them with the current UK legislative framework that re-enacts the original provisions.
These updates are intended to maintain the original policy intent and ensure the continued effective operation of the relevant sections. As such, they are technical in nature and do not represent a change in policy.
To maintain clarity and brevity, these updates are not detailed individually below, as they are not expected to have a substantive impact on the operation of those relevant provisions.
Rights of appeal
A few provisions under the Act which previously were not subject to a right of appeal have been given such a right. This includes:
- Section 22 (grant of a racehorse licence subject to conditions, including any amendments to those conditions or the cancellation of the licence)
- Section 24 (authorisation of a totalisator subject to conditions, including any amendments to those conditions or the cancellation of the license)
The Gambling (Amendment) Act 2006 has been updated in consequence.
Section 38 (Prize competitions)
A new regulation making power is being introduced in order to provide for regulations to be able to set out the circumstances in which prize draws may occur. Prize draws are currently unlawful in any guise, however they will be lawful if carried out in accordance with these regulations, which may provide for the circumstances in which they may be carried out, as well as a maximum value of any prize offered.
Section 46A (Directions)
A new power to issue directions to the holder of a licence, permit or registration under this Act has been included. A direction is a tool which compels the holder of a licence, permit or registration to undertake specified actions in order to correct a failure identified in their compliance with their obligations under the Act or under the conditions of their licence, permit or registration.
A direction under this section may:
- (a) Require the holder of a licence, permit or registration to comply with a request for information under paragraph 3 (requests for information for regulatory inspection purposes) of Schedule 2 (inspection and investigation)
- (b) Require the holder of a licence, permit or registration to take such action in respect of the holder’s business as is specified in the direction
- (c) Impose such requirements as are necessary to secure that any business carried on by the holder of a licence, permit or registration is in whole or in part suspended or discontinued; or
- (d) Where a holder of a licence, permit or registration intends to surrender a licence, require the person to take such action as is necessary to secure that any business carried on by the holder is in whole or in part discontinued and wound up, and the direction must include a statement of the reasons for its issue
Non-compliance with a direction may be taken into account by the GSC when considering whether to take any of the further actions cited within subsection (4), namely, suspending or cancelling a licence, permit or registration.
In the case of a direction which relates to the surrender process of a licence, permit or registration however, non-compliance will be considered a criminal offence, by virtue of the fact that none of the previously cited consequences would be particularly effective in the case of a holder that is in the process of surrendering its licence, permit or registration.
The issue of this direction will be subject to a right of appeal. The Gambling (Amendment) Act 2006 has been updated in consequence.
Consequential amendments have also been made to other sections of the Act in order to make reference to this new direction power.
Section 46B (Offences in connection with information)
Provides for a new offence for providing the GSC either knowingly or recklessly with false or misleading information, or for failing without reasonable excuse to provide any information in connection with a requirement to provide that information to the GSC.
Section 47 (Orders and regulations)
New powers have been introduced such that orders and regulations made under this Act may sub-delegate functions, and require the holders of a licence, permit or registration to comply with such standards as may be specified. This change has been introduced for consistency with the secondary making powers contained within the other gambling Acts. There are no planned amendments that are proposed following this insertion.
Section 48 (Interpretation)
A new definition of ‘lottery’ is being inserted as follows. Previously there has been no definition of ‘lottery’ within the Act.
‘lottery’ means an arrangement in which a person acquires one or more chances to win a prize, where:
- (a) Each such chance has an equal opportunity; and
- (b) The selection of the winning chance is random
Schedule 1, paragraph 10 (Grounds for refusal to grant or renew permit)
A bespoke ground has been introduced, such that the GSC may refuse an application for a permit under this paragraph where material changes are made to the application at the request of the person who submitted the application, such that the GSC considers that the application originally submitted is now unreliable. Such a ground may be read into the refusal powers of other gambling Acts, however this paragraph is exhaustive as to the reasons that the GSC may refuse an application. It has therefore been included as a specific ground in order to bring consistency with the ability of the GSC to refuse in such circumstances for other application types.