These Regulations may be cited as the Gaming Clubs (Hours and Charges) (Amendment) Regulations 2000 and shall come into operation on 26th April 2000.

In these Regulations—

“the 1984 Regulations” means the Gaming Clubs (Hours and Charges) Regulations 1984;

“the Scottish Regulations” means the Gaming Clubs (Hours and Charges) (Scotland) Regulations 1984.

For regulation 5 (Bingo charges) of the 1984 Regulations and of the Scottish Regulations there shall in each case be substituted the following regulation:

(1)    Any charge which, apart from this regulation, would be prohibited by section 3 of the Act, as applied by section 14(1) of the Act, may be made in respect of gaming on bingo club premises, subject to the following conditions, namely—

(a)    the charge shall be in respect of an individual person and shall be for his admission to premises in respect of which gaming in the form of playing bingo takes place or otherwise in respect of his participation in a game of bingo on those premises;

(b)    in the case of his admission, the charge shall not exceed £10 per day; and

(c)    in the case of his participation in a game of bingo, the charge shall not exceed £5 for each chance in playing the game.

(2)    In the case of a charge for admission, a notice of that charge shall be displayed on the premises at or near the principal entrance.

(3)    In the case of any other charge in respect of gaming, a notice in the name of the bingo club concerned containing the particulars of the charges specified in paragraph (4) below shall be displayed at the point (or, if more than one, the main point) where payment for the charge is to be made.

(4)    The particulars to be contained in the notice are:

(a)    the date from which the notice applies;

(b)    the name of each ticket or game (or set of tickets or games) to be played during the currency of the notice;

(c)    the cost (in money) of each ticket or game (or set of tickets or games);

(d)    the charge in respect of each ticket or game (or set of tickets or games); and

(e)    a statement to the effect that all or part of the charge may be waived at the discretion of the person making it.

(5)    The notice may be displayed in electronic form.”.

The following provisions are hereby revoked:

(a)    in regulation 2(1) of the 1984 Regulations and of the Scottish Regulations, the definition of “charging period”;

(b)    in regulation 3 of the Gaming Clubs (Hours and Charges) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 1997; and

(c)    the Gaming Clubs (Hours and Charges) (Amendment) Regulations 1999.

Mike O'Brien

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State

Home Office

28th March 2000

These Regulations amend the Gaming Clubs (Hours and Charges) Regulations 1984 and the Gaming Clubs (Hours and Charges) (Scotland) Regulations 1984. They provide for a modern form of charging for bingo and for a more comprehensible form of notice to be displayed in bingo club premises, containing information as to the cost of play.

The Regulations also remove the requirement that a bingo charge should not exceed £10.00 (exclusive of VAT).