The Casinos (Gaming Machines and Mandatory Conditions) Regulations 2025

Statutory Instruments

2025 No. 735

BETTING, GAMING AND LOTTERIES

The Casinos (Gaming Machines and Mandatory Conditions) Regulations 2025

Made

25th June 2025

Coming into force

22nd July 2025

The Secretary of State makes these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 167, 172(11) and 355(1) of the Gambling Act 2005(1).

In accordance with section 355(4)(g) and (6) of that Act, a draft of this instrument was laid before Parliament and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Casinos (Gaming Machines and Mandatory Conditions) Regulations 2025, and come into force on 22nd July 2025.

Extent

2.—(1) Regulation 4 extends to England and Wales.

(2) Subject to paragraph (1), these Regulations extend to England and Wales and to Scotland.

Amendment to the Gambling Act 2005

3.—(1) The Gambling Act 2005 is amended as follows.

(2) In section 172 (gaming machines), in subsection (5)(b)(i), for “twice” substitute “5 times”.

Amendments to the Gambling Act 2005 (Mandatory and Default Conditions) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007

4.—(1) The Gambling Act 2005 (Mandatory and Default Conditions) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007(2) are amended as follows.

(2) In paragraph 2(1) of Part 4 of Schedule 1 (mandatory conditions attaching to small casino premises licences), for “500m²” substitute “250m²”.

(3) In Part 5 of Schedule 1 (mandatory conditions attaching to converted casino premises licences)—

(a) before paragraph 1, insert—

“A1.   In this Part—

“extended converted casino premises” means premises in which gaming machines are made available for use in accordance with the extended gaming machine entitlement;

“extended gaming machine entitlement” means the entitlement conferred on the holder of a converted casino premises licence to make gaming machines available for use on the premises in accordance with paragraph 65(6)(za) of Schedule 4 to the Gambling Act 2005 (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional Provisions) Order 2006(3);

“larger converted casino premises” means premises in respect of which a converted casino premises licence has effect, and which—

(a)

have a gambling area, the floor area of which is no less than 200m², and

(b)

are not also extended converted casino premises.

B1.   In this Part, in determining the floor area of the gambling area of premises, all areas in which facilities for gambling are provided on the premises must be taken into account.

C1.   In this Part, where premises are required to contain a non-gambling area—

(a) the non-gambling area may consist of one or more areas within the premises,

(b) lobby areas and toilet facilities may be taken into account in calculating the non-gambling area; but the non-gambling area must not consist exclusively of lobby areas and toilet facilities,

(c) facilities for gambling must not be provided in the non-gambling area, and

(d) at any time during which facilities for gambling are being provided on the premises, each separate area comprising the non-gambling area, other than the lobby areas and toilet facilities referred to in sub-paragraph (b), must contain recreational facilities that are available for use by customers on the premises.”;

(b) in paragraph 1—

(i) renumber the existing text as sub-paragraph (2), and

(ii) before the renumbered sub-paragraph (2) insert—

“(1) This paragraph applies to all premises in respect of which a converted casino premises licence has effect.”;

(c) in paragraph 2—

(i) for sub-paragraph (1), substitute—

“(1) This paragraph applies to larger converted casino premises.”, and

(ii) omit sub-paragraphs (2) and (4) to (7);

(d) after paragraph 2, insert—

“3.— (1) This paragraph applies to extended converted casino premises.

(2) The premises must contain a table gaming area, the floor area of which is no less than the lesser of—

(a) half the size of the floor area of the gambling area,

(b) 250m².

(3) Subject to sub-paragraph (4), in determining the floor area of the table gaming area, any number of separate areas within the premises may be taken into account.

(4) Any separate area that comprises less than 12.5 per cent of the minimum required table gaming area is not to be taken into account in determining the table gaming area.

(5) No gambling is permitted in the table gaming area of the premises other than gambling by way of table gaming.

(6) The premises must contain a non-gambling area, the floor area of which is no less than the lesser of—

(a) half the size of the floor area of the gambling area,

(b) 250m².

4.— (1) This paragraph applies to larger converted casino premises and extended converted casino premises.

(2) The floor area of the gambling area must be less than 1,500m².

(3) Sub-paragraph (2) does not apply to premises in which the floor area of the gambling area of the casino was 1,500m² or greater on 12th May 2025 provided that, after that date—

(a) the size of floor area of the gambling area is not increased, and

(b) the converted casino premises licence is not varied under section 187 of the 2005 Act(4) so as to relate to premises to which it did not relate on that date.

5.— (1) This paragraph applies to all premises in respect of which a converted casino premises licence has effect.

(2) A notice must be displayed in a prominent place in each part of the premises used for providing facilities for betting, setting out the terms on which persons are invited to bet on the premises.

(3) The maximum number of separate betting positions that may be made available for use at any time in relation to betting machines is determined in accordance with the table below.

Size of floor area of gambling area (square metres)	Maximum number of separate betting positions
500 or more	40
At least 480, but less than 500	38
At least 460, but less than 480	36
At least 440, but less than 460	34
At least 420, but less than 440	32
At least 400, but less than 420	30
At least 380, but less than 400	28
At least 360, but less than 380	26
At least 340, but less than 360	24
At least 320, but less than 340	22
At least 300, but less than 320	20
At least 280, but less than 300	18
Less than 280	16”.

Review

5.—(1) The Secretary of State must from time to time—

(a) carry out a review of the regulatory provision contained in these Regulations, and

(b) publish a report setting out the conclusions of each such review.

(2) The first report must be published before the end of the period of five years beginning with the date on which these Regulations come into force.

(3) Subsequent reports must be published thereafter at intervals not exceeding five years.

(4) A report published under this regulation must, in particular—

(a) set out the objectives intended to be achieved by the regulatory provision referred to in paragraph (1)(a),

(b) assess the extent to which those objectives are achieved,

(c) assess whether those objectives remain appropriate, and

(d) if those objectives remain appropriate, assess the extent to which they could be achieved in another way which involves less onerous regulatory provision.

(5) In this regulation, “regulatory provision” has the same meaning as in sections 28 to 32 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015(5) (see section 32 of that Act).

Twycross

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

25th June 2025

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Regulation 3 of these Regulations amends section 172(5)(b)(i) of the Gambling Act 2005 (c. 19) (“the Act”) to change how to calculate the number of gaming machines that may be made available for use in small casinos licensed under the Act. For every gaming table used in the casino, the effect of the amendment is to increase from two to five the number of gaming machines that may also be made available for use. The maximum number of gaming machines that may be made available for use on the premises remains unchanged at 80.

Regulation 4 of these Regulations makes a number of amendments to the Gambling Act 2005 (Mandatory and Default Conditions) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 (S.I. 2007/1409) (“the 2007 Regulations”).

By paragraph (2) of regulation 4, the minimum size of the table gaming area in small casinos licensed under the Act is reduced from 500m² to 250m².

The Gambling Act 2005 (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional Provisions) (Amendment) Order 2025 (S.I. 2025/734) amends the gambling entitlements authorised by a converted casino premises licence in paragraph 65 of Schedule 4 to the Gambling Act 2005 (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional Provisions) Order 2006 (S.I. 2006/3272 (C. 119)) (as amended, “the 2006 Order”). The changes made enable the holder of a converted casino premises licence relating to premises in England and Wales to make up to 80 gaming machines (including Category B gaming machines) available for use, provided a number of specified conditions are satisfied (“the extended entitlement”).

Paragraph (3) of regulation 4 of these Regulations amends the mandatory conditions attaching to converted casino premises licences in Part 5 of Schedule 1 to the 2007 Regulations. The mandatory conditions vary depending on whether the holder of the licence has decided to exercise the extended entitlement, and if not, whether the floor area of the gambling area in the casino is 200m² or more.

New paragraph 3 of Part 5 of Schedule 1 to the 2007 Regulations attaches additional mandatory conditions to converted casino premises licences that apply only if the holder decides to exercise the extended entitlement. These additional mandatory conditions relate to the table gaming area and the size of the non-gambling area, and are identical to equivalent mandatory conditions that attach to small casinos licensed under the Act, save that for converted casino premises licences, the minimum size of the table gaming and non-gambling areas must be no less than the lesser of 250m² and half the size of the floor area of the gambling area.

For casinos which exercise the extended entitlement and other larger converted casino premises, a new mandatory condition in paragraph 4 of Part 5 of Schedule 1 to the 2007 Regulations requires that the floor area of the gambling area is less than 1,500m². This does not apply to a casino which was 1,500m² or larger on 12th May 2025, provided the size of that casino’s gambling area is not subsequently increased and the casino remains in the same premises.

In all converted casinos, as a result of betting now being permitted under the 2006 Order, there is a new mandatory condition in paragraph 5 of Part 5 of Schedule 1 to the 2007 Regulations relating to betting which is equivalent to the existing mandatory conditions attached to casinos licensed under the Act. For converted casinos, however, there is an additional restriction on the number of betting machines relative to the size of the floor area of gambling area in that casino.

Regulation 5 requires the Secretary of State to carry out a review of the amendments to the 2007 Regulations made by these Regulations, and to publish a report setting out the conclusions of the review. The first report must be published before the end of 5 years beginning with the day on which these Regulations come into force, and subsequent reports must be published thereafter at intervals not exceeding 5 years.

A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary and public sectors is available from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 100 Parliament Street, London SW1A 2BQ. This document is published alongside this instrument and its Explanatory Memorandum on www.legislation.gov.uk. Hard copies of these documents are available from the same postal address.

(1)

2005 c. 19; section 172(11) was amended by the Scotland Act 2016 (c. 11), section 52(3). Section 355(1) was amended by the Scotland Act 2016, paragraph (a) of section 52(5), and by the Wales Act 2017 (c. 4), paragraph (a) of section 58(2).

(2)

S.I. 2007/1409.

(3)

S.I. 2006/3272 (C. 119), amended by S.I. 2025/734; there are other amending instruments, but none is relevant.

(4)

Paragraph 65(12) of Schedule 4 to the Gambling Act 2005 (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional Provisions) Order 2006 provides that section 187(2) of the Gambling Act 2005 (which says that a premises licence may not be varied so as to relate to premises to which it did not previously relate) has no effect in relation to a converted casino premises licence.

(5)

2015 c. 26. Section 28(4) was amended by paragraphs 7 and 11 of Schedule 3 to the Advanced Research and Invention Agency Act 2022 (c. 4). Section 29(5) was amended by section 18(2) and (3) of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (c. 28). Section 30(3) was amended by section 19 of the Enterprise Act 2016 (c. 12) and paragraph 36 of Part 2 of Schedule 8 to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (c. 16).