Gaming fees to be paid on renewal, confirms DCMS

Local authorities will not be able to charge pubs for converting gaming machine permits in September, the Department for Culture, Media & Sport has confirmed.

Licensees will only have to pay gaming fees on their renewal date and not on a fixed date of September 1, the British Beer & Pub Association has been told by the government department.

As a result of discussions and the submission of legal advice from the industry, the DCMS said that pubs holding existing gaming machine permits with expiry dates after the first date of the regulations on September 1 will not be liable for the fee charge.

Pubs will have to pay the annual fee for machines when they come to convert their permit under the Gambling Act 2005.

The regulations allowing poker in pubs were laid before Parliament yesterday. Pubs will be allowed poker for a weekly prize limit of £700 or £100 per day while there are no stake limits for domino and cribbage.

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."

The annual fee of £50 will 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 1st September 2010.