Revised guidance on gaming fees

July 18, 2007: The Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) has confirmed that pubs will only have to pay new gaming fees as and when they come up for renewal and not at a fixed date in September.

This follows discussions with the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA), which has welcomed the clarification.

As a result of discussions with officials and the submission of legal advice from the industry, DCMS has told the BBPA that pubs holding existing gaming machine permits with expiry dates after September 1 will not be liable to pay the annual fee for such machines until they come to convert their permit under the Gambling Act 2005. Some local authorities had been seeking to charge pubs the new fees this September.

Instead of being payable all at once, the annual fee of £50 will now be phased in over three years, as Section 34 permissions gradually expire and permits are granted under the new Act. Businesses will not be expected to pay a fee introduced by the new Act while still operating as if under their Section 34 permit until September 1, 2010. The BBPA estimates that the cost saving to the industry is in the region of £750,000.

The BBPA has also learned that, following its lobbying, the draft poker regulations will not require dominoes and cribbage to be subject to the same rules as poker, as originally proposed. The status quo (low stakes gaming) will remain. Furthermore, the Government has also decided not to introduce a weekly limit of £500 for poker stakes and prizes. There will only be a daily limit of £100.

Mark Hastings, BBPA director of communications, said: "Given the pressures facing the trade this year, I’m pleased the DCMS has listened to our common sense arguments about the introduction of new gaming machine charges. This is welcome and will save pubs a great deal of money.

"Also, it is good to see that DCMS has adopted a common sense approach over poker, cribbage and dominoes. Stakes were always likely to be small, and this has never been about gambling but pub games as an entertainment, alongside pub quizzes. It’s great that pub players will be allowed to enjoy these games with modest stakes and a minimum of regulatory interference."