East Suffolk Council

Complaining about gambling licensing issues

The Gambling Act 2005 has three licensing 'objectives' which are:

• Preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder, or being used to support crime.
• Ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way.
• Protecting children and other vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

If you think there might be an immediate threat to the well-being or safety of a child or vulnerable person you should dial 999 straight away.

If you are concerned that the licensing objectives are not being upheld - for example, you may have seen a child playing a high-stake gaming machine or suspect that unlicensed gambling has taken place at a premises - please let us have as much detail about the situation as you can.

Please note that your personal details will not be made known to a licence holder without your prior consent. You can also ask a representative to write on your behalf.

Depending on the type of problem, the Gambling Commission and/or the police or another agency may need to be involved, and we will tell you this once we have looked into the matter.

What happens next?

Having received details of the complaint we will reply to you within seven working days. We will also make sure to:

• Advise you of any options that may be available to you if we cannot help with the problem.
• Keep you informed about the progress of an investigation, if an investigation is carried out.
• Advise you of the outcome of an investigation, and any action taken to resolve the problem, within twenty-eight days of receiving your complaint. (Please note that if an investigation results in a review of a premises licence, or a court case, it may not be possible to solve the problem within 28 days).