Greene King has won its appeal against the Gambling Commission’s refusal to allow it a bingo licence, opening the door for larger pubcos to operate commercial bingo.
In a First-Tier Tribunal case Judge NJ Warren quashed the refusal and remitted the matter back to the Gambling Commission with a direction that the application should be granted.
Warren also accepted Greene King’s submission that the Commission’s purpose and only justification for refusing the application was to prevent it from applying for a premises licence.
He said the Commission’s role in respect of premises licences is “to give guidance, make representations, even appeal against the licensing authority’s decision - but not to usurp the role of decision maker”.
The applications sought to allow the pub company, which operates around 1,000 managed sites, to offer unlimited stake and prize bingo, “linked bingo” where players can join a national game for big cash prizes via electronic tablets or terminals, as well as increased numbers of gaming machines with higher jackpots. There are currently strict limits on stakes and prizes and licensees cannot charge participation fees.
According to licensing law firm Poppleston Allen, the Commission had taken a “precautionary approach” and concluded that the provision of high stake bingo with higher category gaming machines in a pub environment had the potential to jeopardise the licensing objective of being fair and open and protecting children and the vulnerable.
Prior to the hearing the law firm said if the decision was overturned it could open the floodgates to hundreds of other applications.
