Barking and Dagenham Council is seeking public input on its revised Statement of Gambling Licensing Policy for 2026-2029. The policy, discussed at a recent Licensing and Regulatory Committee meeting, aims to strengthen protections against gambling-related harm.

The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham currently regulates 42 gambling premises, consisting of 36 betting shops, 3 adult gaming centres, and 3 bingo premises. The council's assessment is that gambling-related harm can have a wide range of impacts, extending beyond the individual gambler to affect families, communities, and public services. Harms associated with gambling can include financial hardship, debt, poor mental health, relationship breakdown, domestic abuse, homelessness, substance misuse, safeguarding concerns, crime, and anti-social behaviour.

Map showing the distribution of adult gaming centres, betting shops, and bingo halls across Barking and Dagenham, with wards highlighted.
Map showing the distribution of adult gaming centres, betting shops, and bingo halls across Barking and Dagenham, with wards highlighted.

The revised policy incorporates feedback from a public consultation and focuses on promoting the three licensing objectives under the Gambling Act 2005: preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, ensuring it is conducted fairly and openly, and protecting children and vulnerable persons from harm.

During the meeting, councillors raised questions about the consultation process and specific actions to combat gambling harm. Nick Howard, Environmental Health Service Manager, explained that the 16 responses received were typical for such a policy. He outlined a three-pronged approach for the next 12 months: building an evidence base, reviewing the prevalence of gambling premises, and further investigating the prevalence and severity of gambling harms. The success of this approach will be measured by the information gained from these three areas, which could potentially afford you further information. And it could be that those are sufficient to bring forward a early review of the gambling policy, because there's now a new gambling harms national programme under the gambling levy.

Bar chart showing the number of responses received for a revised gambling licensing policy, broken down by area.
Bar chart showing the number of responses received for a revised gambling licensing policy, broken down by area.

Regarding the consultation process, Mr. Howard stated that it was promoted through the council's one borough voice, consultation pages, public advertisement, direct emails and letters to statutory consultees and identified stakeholders, and publicised on the council's website. References were made on social media, and an online anonymised survey tool was used to encourage open feedback. The consultation engaged with responsible authorities, local licensed operators, trade bodies, ward councillors, service providers, and organisations representing affected individuals.

Councillor Shamsul Azam inquired about engagement with schools and youth services. Mr. Howard responded that this would be part of a wider partnership approach to gambling harms. The council notes that there are powers for authorities to consider large clustering of gambling premises close to vulnerable locations, and schools are one of those locations. While there isn't enough evidence of large clusters around schools currently, the council will carry out further risk-focused activity looking at individual hotspot locations, school locations, and vulnerable service locations.

Map showing premises clustering in Station Parade, Barking, with a legend indicating schools and licensed premises.
Map showing premises clustering in Station Parade, Barking, with a legend indicating schools and licensed premises.

Councillor Julia Williams questioned the wording regarding licensing objectives and the potential impact of government announcements on the 'aim to permit' policy. Mr. Howard clarified that the council would track any changes and communicate them. He further explained that if the aim to permit policy were removed, members of this committee would be much more free in their considerations of whether or not, on the balance, it was favourable to the local community or not, to have further licensed gambling processes, approved a license.

The council's definition of 'vulnerable persons' in the context of gambling harm aligns with the Gambling Commission's stance, which assumes this group includes individuals who may gamble more than they want, beyond their means, or struggle to make informed decisions due to mental health needs, learning disabilities, or substance misuse. Specific protections being considered include robust safeguarding procedures, staff training arrangements, age verification controls, self-exclusion procedures and local risk assessments to ensure compliance with licensing objectives.

Councillor Manjeet Nandra asked about the monitoring of policy objectives. The committee was informed that monitoring occurs through scrutiny of applications, contact with licensed entities, and follow-up to complaints or proactive inspections.

The committee also considered a minor amendment suggested by the Planning Department regarding compliance with national and local planning policies. The revised policy will now proceed to Cabinet and then to the General Assembly for final adoption. The full public reports pack can be found here.