Gambling Commission finds failures to prevent children playing on age-restricted pub gaming machines

“Many pub and club operators holding premises licences under the Licensing Act 2003 operate gaming machines within their premises.

Both Category C and D gaming machines may be provided but it is the age restricted Category C machines (£100 jackpot), which are under scrutiny.

The Gambling Commission does not regulate gaming machines in pubs, with responsibility for ensuring legal compliance resting with local Licensing Authorities.

The Gambling Commission has recently worked with Authorities and local Police to test compliance with laws in place to protect children from the risks associated with gambling. Of the pub premises tested, almost 90% failed to prevent children accessing the age-restricted machines.

The failure rate is in stark contrast to the average failure rate of between 15 and 30% for other age-restricted products, such as alcohol and tobacco.

The Gambling Commission has announced today that it is calling on the pub sector to take immediate action to protect children and young people.

The Gambling Commission has published a Code of Practice for gaming machines in clubs and premises with an alcohol licence, which can be found here.

The Code of Practice provides detailed advice for operators as to where machines should be located and how supervision and age restrictions should be implemented.”