The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has updated its internal policies on licensing management to reflect ‘increasing demand’ and a strain on resources.
Changing the way it interacts with licensed operators, incumbents will no longer have an individual point of contact, with the policy scrapped in exchange for four sub-groups for different areas of work.
The sub-groups are comprised of: The Operator Licence New Group, charged with processing applications for new licences; The Change of Corporate Control Group, responsible for processing applications with regards to ownership changes and acquisitions; The Operator Licence Vary Group, leading applications relating to existing operator licences and The Personal Licence Group, leading the application process relating to personal licenses.
UKGC outlined that the process for applications has not changed, just the points of contact internally.
New businesses will be able to apply for UK gambling licences via the Digital Services section of the Gambling Commission’s website.
Applicants will then be assigned to a caseworker, who will deliver ‘an estimated timescale’ for determination.
Explaining to stakeholders why the changes are being implemented, the Gambling Commission advised: “We are changing our working practises to make the best use of our resources. By working in this way, we hope to be able to process applications more quickly. We also hope to be able to resolve queries more efficiently and effectively.”
Recently, the Commission’s Chairman Marcus Boyle warned licenced operators that the regulator would be coming down tougher on those that breach regulations, noting that “we will not tolerate an attitude of lowest possible compliance being sufficient.”
