Guidance

Licensing decisions: Procedures and guidance for licensing hearings

Guidance to assist Directors or the Regulatory Panel to carry out their licensing functions in accordance with our policies and procedures and to comply with the law.

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Published
16 May 2022

Last updated
29 January 2026 - Changes

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Contents

• Licensing decisions: Procedures and guidance for licensing hearings

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• 1 - Introduction
• • The purpose of this guidance
  • Scheme of delegations
  • Referral of case to a licensing hearing
  • The legal framework for decision making
  • Conflicts of interest
• 2 - Preparing for the hearing
• • Introduction
  • Documentary and other evidence
  • Case management hearings
• 3 - The hearing
• 4 - The Decision making process for determining licence applications
• • Determining the facts
  • Deciding whether to grant or refuse the application (in whole or in part)

Introduction

In January 2025 we issued our gaming machine consultation (opens in new tab) that proposed changes through our Gaming Machine Technical Standards, the Gaming Machine Testing Strategy and the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice. The consultation ran for 18 weeks until 3 June 2025.

We received a total of 1,065 responses to the full consultation, including 64 which specifically addressed the proposal to introduce this general licence condition. The 64 responses were from the following categories of respondents:

• 3 from individuals responding in a personal capacity who are or have worked in a gambling business
• 33 from gambling businesses
• 1 from charities and/or non-profit organisations
• 2 from professional bodies including academic organisations
• 5 from trade associations
• 20 from others (clubs).

The organisations that consented to the publication of their name when responding to the consultation are listed in the Annex.

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Last updated: 29 January 2026

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