# English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026, Section 87: Licensing of gambling premises: impact assessments Extent: E+W Status: prospective (1) The Gambling Act 2005 is amended in accordance with this section. (2) In section 153 (licensing authorities’ functions: principles to be applied), in subsection (3), for “section” substitute “sections 165A and”. (3) After section 153 insert— “Gambling impact assessments 153A (1) A licensing authority may publish a document (“a gambling impact assessment”) containing a statement that the licensing authority consider that the grant of any relevant licence, or of any further relevant licences, in respect of premises in one or more parts of their area described in the assessment (the “affected part or parts”) is not likely to be reasonably consistent with one or more of the licensing objectives because of— (a) the cumulative impact of relevant licences in respect of premises in the affected part or parts, or (b) other reasons which relate to that licensing objective, or those licensing objectives, and to the affected part or parts. (2) A gambling impact assessment must set out the evidence for the authority's opinion as set out in the assessment in accordance with subsection (1). (3) A gambling impact assessment may include a statement which is framed by reference to the grant of relevant licences in excess of a number specified in the statement. (4) A gambling impact assessment may relate— (a) to all relevant licences, or (b) only to relevant licences of a kind described in the assessment. (5) A licensing authority must— (a) from time to time review any gambling impact assessment published by them, (b) if they think it necessary in the light of a review, revise or withdraw the assessment, and (c) publish any revision. (6) Before publishing a gambling impact assessment (including a revised assessment), the licensing authority must consult the persons mentioned in section 349(3). (7) For the purposes of the consultation, the licensing authority must provide the persons mentioned in section 349(3) with the following information— (a) the reasons why they are considering publishing or revising a gambling impact assessment; (b) a general indication of the part or parts of their area which they are considering describing in the assessment; (c) whether they consider that the assessment will relate to all relevant licences or only to relevant licences of a particular kind. (8) In determining— (a) whether to publish a gambling impact assessment (including a revised assessment) or withdraw an assessment, or (b) the terms of a gambling impact assessment, a licensing authority may not have regard to the expected demand for facilities of the kinds that would require relevant licences to be operated lawfully. (9) If a licensing authority have published a gambling impact assessment, the authority must include a summary of the assessment in the three-year licensing policy. (10) For provision about the role of gambling impact assessments in the process of applying for relevant licences, see section 165A. (11) In this section— “relevant licence” means— (a) a bingo premises licence, (b) an adult gaming centre premises licence, (c) a family entertainment centre premises licence, or (d) a betting premises licence; “three-year licensing policy” means the statement published in accordance with section 349.” (4) After section 165 insert— “Rejection of application: gambling impact assessment 165A (1) This section applies to an application for a relevant licence (the “prospective licence”) if— (a) the licensing authority have published a gambling impact assessment in accordance with section 153A, and (b) the licensing authority’s three-year licensing policy includes a presumption that the authority will reject an application for a relevant licence if the licence is within the scope of the assessment. (2) It is lawful for the licensing authority to reject the application solely on the ground that the prospective licence is within the scope of the gambling impact assessment (and therefore regardless of anything, including any legislation, which would otherwise support or require the grant of the prospective licence). (3) But a rejection of the application is not lawful on that ground (whether by virtue of subsection (2) or otherwise) if the person applying for the prospective licence— (a) asserts in the application that the grant of the prospective licence would be reasonably consistent with the licensing objective or objectives to which the gambling impact assessment relates, and (b) then shows that the grant of the prospective licence would be reasonably consistent with that licensing objective or those licensing objectives; (and, accordingly, inconsistency with that licensing objective or those licensing objectives cannot otherwise be a ground for rejecting the application). (4) For the purposes of this section, a licence is “within the scope of” a gambling impact assessment if the licence would (if granted)— (a) relate to premises in the part or parts of the authority’s area described in the assessment in accordance with section 153A(1), and (b) be a kind of licence to which the assessment applies in accordance with section 153A(1) (whether by virtue of section 153A(4)(a) or (b)). (5) But if the assessment is framed by reference to the grant of relevant licences in excess of a number specified in the statement, a licence is not within the scope of the assessment unless (additionally)— (a) the grant of the prospective licence, or (b) the grant of that licence and any other relevant licences for which applications are being considered at the same time, would result in that number being exceeded. (6) This section does not affect the powers of a licensing authority to decide what is included in their three-year licensing policy; and, in particular, it does not affect any powers— (a) to make other kinds of presumptions, and (b) to act lawfully in accordance with the terms of other kinds of presumptions. (7) In this section— “relevant licence” has the same meaning as in section 153A; “three-year licensing policy” means the statement published in accordance with section 349.” (5) In section 349 (three-year licensing policy), after subsection (3) insert— “(3A) Subsection (3) does not require consultation in relation to a— (a) gambling impact assessment (within the meaning of section 153A) of which a summary is included in the statement being prepared or revised, or (b) a presumption of the kind referred to in section 165A(1)(b) included in that statement; and, instead, see section 153A(6).” --- Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2026/23/section/87 (the official version) Page: https://openlegislation.uk/english-devolution-and-community-empowerment-act-2026/section-87 Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.