UK Gambling Commission ups efforts to combat illegal gaming machines

The UK Gambling Commission has announced it is to host a series of training workshops across the country to help local councils identify and manage the siting of illegal gaming machines in their respective constituencies.

Training will be provided by Westminster City Training in partnership with the Gambling Commission’s Local Authority Liaison Unit (LALU), the latter of which regularly supports UK councils and polices forces on joint operations to remove illegal gaming machines.

Many of the courses, a number of which are already fully booked, will be hosted in casino premises in order to give participants first-hand experience of a live gambling environment.

Supplying gaming machines or making them available to the public without the appropriate licence or permission is a criminal offence in the UK.

The new training series follows the success of seven workshops that were held around the UK last year.

The Gambling Commission said the 2013 series, which attracted almost 400 council and police officers, demonstrated a need by local councils for practical training on how to effectively identify and take action over illegal gaming machines.

“Issues around suspected illegal gaming machines are one of the main compliance referrals we make to licensing authorities,” LALU’s Rob Burkitt said.

“With the fast moving nature of technical advances in gaming machines, these workshops are a great opportunity for police and council officers to find out what they need to look for when dealing with illegal gaming machines.”

Steve Harrison, Westminster City Council’s operational director of premises management, added: “The licensing, deployment and policing of gaming machines present real challenges and the fact that that our first workshop course in Bristol sold out speaks volumes about the need for quality training.

“I believe that Westminster City Council’s team offers the best training available. Crucially, our officers come to the classroom with years of on-the-ground experience and we share the Gambling Commission’s ambition for best practice to be shared across the country.”