July 12, 2016

The proposals in the consultation:

• take account of the significant changes to the Commission’s costs and income following the implementation of the Gambling (Licensing & Advertising) Act 2014;
• reflect the efficiencies the Commission has achieved in its expenditure, and would reduce the overall fee burden across the industry by an estimated 10%;
• ensure that the Commission’s costs continue to be recovered on a proportionate basis from different types and sizes of operator; and
• address other issues identified in the current fees structure.

The consultation also proposes some important modifications to the fees structure, including:

• the replacement of “number of premises” with “gross gambling yield” (GGY) as the basis for fee categories across a number of licences;
• the sub-division of various fee categories into smaller categories to ensure that the Commission’s costs are recovered through fees on a fairer basis; and
• the re-alignment of the Commission’s cost recovery more proportionately in relation to GGY.

The Commission expects the proposals to mean fee reductions for around 1,900 operators while fees would be held at their current levels for around 1,000 operators, and fewer than 100 would be subject to an increase in fees.

In developing its advice to the Government on changes to fees, the Commission has taken account of the responses it received from stakeholders during its fees discussion exercise in 2015 and, subject to the outcome of the consultation, it would expect changes to fees to be put in place in April 2017.

The consultation closes on 9 September 2016.  To read the Commission’s press release in full and for a link to the consultation, click here.