Local authorities will be able to impose sanctions on operators, including limiting opening hours and reducing numbers of gaming machines.Local people will be able to object to new gambling licences and seek reviews of existing ones.New codes governing advertising come into force, requiring ads to be socially responsible and banning the use of models under 25 or linking gambling to sexual success. Adverts from outside Europe that fail to meet the UK’s strict regulatory requirements will be banned. TV advertisements will be allowed for the first time, but subject to a voluntary 9pm watershed (with the exemption of betting ads during sports events). The membership requirement on casinos is lifted. Bingo clubs will be able to offer rollover jackpots. Questions on phone-in quizzes on TV and radio must be harder. This is to prevent pay-to-enter phone quizzes that are too easy operating as if they were lotteries and therefore evading limits on stakes and prizes and the legal requirement for licensed lotteries to give 20 per cent of profits to charity.

Gambling operators will be required to display prominently information about responsible gambling and how to get help for problems. They will also have to work proactively to prevent underage gambling and contribute to problem gambling treatment and research, education and public awareness. Betting cheats, including sportspeople, will face a two-year jail sentence. UK-based betting operators will be required to pass information to sports bodies to prevent cheating. Gambling debts will become legally enforceable, helping to ensure those who win get paid. Gerry Sutcliffe, minister with responsibility for gambling, said: “Many people like to gamble, and for the vast majority it’s harmless fun. This has and always will be the case. But what has changed is the way people gamble. It used to be that you had to leave the house to place a bet, but advances in technology have changed that – TVs, home computers and mobile phones have become the digital equivalent of a betting slip and casino chip. “The government brought in the Gambling Act because most of our laws were nearly 40 years old and these developments were going unchecked and unregulated.

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