The British government is moving to revoke the Gambling Act 2005’s “aim to permit” rule, a change that would make it easier for councils to turn down new betting shops and 24-hour slot-machine venues on local high streets. Andy Burnham said local councils would be given the powers they need to rein in unwanted shops and bring town centres back to life.
The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 had already added gambling impact assessments to the statute book, giving councils a separate tool to limit new licences on cumulative-impact grounds while leaving section 153 in place. The latest move would remove the older duty altogether.
Section 153 currently tells licensing authorities to aim to permit gambling premises so far as they think applications fit the relevant codes of practice, guidance, licensing objectives and local policy. The Gambling Commission says authorities have discretion to impose conditions, reject, review or revoke licences where there is an inherent conflict with relevant codes of practice, guidance, licensing objectives or the licensing authority’s own policy statement.
Ministers said the change would give communities and councils a stronger say over whether new betting shops are right for their area and help stop them spreading unchecked across struggling high streets. The government also pointed to clustering in more deprived places, including the London borough of Brent, where there are more than 80 gambling venues and Harlesden has 10 betting shops within a 10-minute walk.
The same announcement covered adult gaming centres, which the government described as adult-only venues offering up to 24-hour access to gambling machines. EuropeanGaming.eu said the repeal of “aim to permit” would apply across the premises-licensing regime in England, Wales and Scotland, while Northern Ireland is unaffected because gambling there is regulated separately. The government also said closure orders would be doubled from six to 12 months, giving police and councils more time to investigate premises linked to organised crime and prevent rogue businesses reopening.
Industry groups pushed back. The Betting and Gaming Council said betting shop numbers had fallen by more than a third since 2019, with around 3,000 closures and over 15,000 jobs lost, and argued that it was wrong to lump licensed betting shops together with rogue or criminal businesses. It also said betting shops still support 37,500 jobs.
Racing Post, citing Gambling Commission figures, said Britain had 5,542 betting shops by the end of March, down from 9,111 in March 2014, and that more than 540 high street betting shops had closed since last November. The paper also said around 4,500 jobs were lost in that period, with total job losses reaching 15,000 when counted back to 2019.
Jamie Gollings of the Social Market Foundation welcomed the change, saying councils had had very little real say over what opens on them. EuropeanGaming.eu said the government wants the new rules in force from the start of 2027 after a six-week consultation.
