Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act 1963 (repealed)

Part I — Betting

General restrictions on betting

Restriction on use of premises for betting transactions with persons resorting thereto

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Restriction on bookmaking except under bookmaker's permit

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Agent of bookmaker or Totalisator Board to be authorised and registered

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Restriction of pool betting

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Restriction of betting on tracks

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Restriction of bookmaking on tracks

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Restriction of betting on dog racecourses

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Prohibition of betting in streets and public places

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Licensed betting offices

Betting office licences and betting agency permits

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Conduct of licensed betting offices

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Special provisions with respect to bookmaker’s and betting agency permits

Cancellation of and disqualification for bookmaker's or betting agency permit

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The Totalisator Board and pool betting on horse races

Horserace Totalisator Board

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• (1) There shall be a Horserace Totalisator Board (in this Act referred to as “the Totalisator Board”) which shall be a body corporate and have perpetual succession and a common seal.

• (2) The Totalisator Board shall consist of a chairman and such number of other members as the Secretary of State may determine, all of whom shall be appointed by the Secretary of State and hold and vacate office in accordance with the terms of the respective instruments under which they are appointed.

• (3) The Totalisator Board may pay to any member of the Board such remuneration, and travelling, subsistence or other allowances at such rates, as the Board may with the approval of the Secretary of State determine:

Provided that the Board shall not by virtue of this subsection have power to pay remuneration to any member of the Board who is for the time being a member of, or nominated as a candidate for election to, the House of Commons.

• (3A) The Board may pay such pension or gratuity to or in respect of any member of the Board as the Board may, with the approval of the Secretary of State, determine.

• (4) The Totalisator Board may appoint officers, servants and agents on such terms as to remuneration, pensions or otherwise as the Board may determine.

• (5) The Totalisator Board may regulate their own procedure and make standing orders governing the conduct of their business.

• (6) No act or proceeding of the Totalisator Board shall be questioned on account of any vacancy in the number of the members thereof or on account of the appointment of any member having been defective.

• (7) Except where the context otherwise requires, any reference in any Act or other document to the Racecourse Betting Control Board shall be construed as a reference to the Totalisator Board.

Approval of horse racecourses by Totalisator Board

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Functions of Totalisator Board with respect to betting on horse races

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• (1) The Totalisator Board shall have the exclusive right to do, and to authorise other persons to do, either of the following things, that is to say—

• (a) to carry on pool betting business in any form on a recognised horse race; and

• (b) by way of business to receive or negotiate bets on a recognised horse race on terms that the winnings or any part thereof shall be calculated or regulated directly or indirectly by reference to the amounts or rates of any payments or distributions in respect of winning bets on that race made by way of sponsored pool betting;

and in giving any authority under this subsection the Board may do so on such terms, including terms as to payments to the Board, as the Board may think fit.

• (2) Any infringement of the right conferred on the Totalisator Board by the foregoing subsection shall be actionable at the suit of the Board; and in any action for such an infringement all such relief, by way of damages, injunction, accounts or otherwise, shall be available to the Board as is available to the plaintiff in any corresponding proceedings in respect of infringements of proprietary rights and, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any enactment or rule of law relating to the jurisdiction of county courts, a county court may, on the application of the Board, grant an injunction restraining an infringement or apprehended infringement of the right aforesaid whether or not any other relief in claimed; and for the purposes of this subsection the right aforesaid is infringed by any person who, without the authority of the Board—

• (a) does or authorises any other person to do anything such as is mentioned in subsection (1)(a) or (b) of this section; or

• (b) by way of business holds himself out as willing to enter into any pool betting transaction on a recognised horse race, whether by way of sponsored pool betting or otherwise, or to receive or negotiate a bet on a recognised horse race on such terms as are mentioned in the said subsection (1)(b).

In the application of this subsection to Scotland, “suit” means instance, “injunction” means an interdict, “accounts” means count, reckoning and payment, and “plaintiff” means pursuer.

• (3) Where bets on a race or combination of races are made by way of sponsored pool betting, the Totalisator Board shall—

• (a) cause to be deducted from the aggregate amount staked either—

• (i) such percentage of that amount as may be determined from time to time by the Board, either generally or with respect to any particular racecourse; or

• (ii) if so determined as aforesaid, such percentage of such part of that amount as may be determined as aforesaid; and

• (b) cause the whole of the remainder of that amount to be distributed among the persons making such of those bets as are winning bets.

• (4) Where faciltites for sponsored pool betting are being provided on an approved horse racecourse by the persons having the management of that racecourse, any amount deducted by those persons under subsection (3)(a) of this section shall be paid to the Totalisator Board, but the Board may pay to those persons the amount of the expenses shown to the satisfaction of the Board to have been properly incurred by those persons in connection with the provision of those facilities.

• (5) Without prejudice to section 12(4) of this Act, the Totalisator Board may remunerate any person, by the payment of commissions or otherwise, in respect of the negotiation, receipt or transmission by that person—

• (a) of bets to be made by way of sponsored pool betting; or

• (b) of bets such as are mentioned in subsection (1)(b) of this section to be made with the Board or, under the authority of the Board, with the persons having the management of an approved horse racecourse,

and may provide facilities on any such racecourse for persons engaged in receiving bets to be so made.

• (6) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as restricting the betting transactions which may be effected by way of sponsored pool betting to betting transactions upon the result of a single race, or upon the results of races run on a particular racecourse or on a particular day, or as preventing the Totalisator Board from giving credit in any betting transaction.

Additional powers and duties of Totalisator Board

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• (1) The Totalisator Board shall have power—

• (a) to acquire and hold such land as may be reasonably required for the purposes of any of their functions and to sell or lease any land held by them which is not required for those purposes;

• (b) to borrow for the purposes of any of their functions and to give security for any moneys borrowed by them;

• (c) to make such loans or investments as they judge desirable for the proper conduct of their affairs, being loans or investments either—

• (i) such as, under the enactments for the time being in force, a trustee would by authorised to make out of trust funds; or

• (ii) approved, or of a description approved, by the Secretary of State;

• (d) to do all such things as are incidental to, or conducive to the attainment of the purposes of, any of their functions.

• (2) Subject to section 14(3) to (5) of this Act, the Totalisator Board shall apply any moneys from time to time available in their hands—

• (a) in providing for the payment of rates, taxes, charges, expenses and other outgoings;

• (b) in making provision for the payment of any contribution for the time being payable by them under section 30 of this Act;

• (c) in making such other provision in connection with any of their functions as they think proper.

Special provisions with respect to licensed tracks

Totalisators on licensed tracks

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Special rights of occupier of licensed track where totalisator is operated

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Charges to bookmakers on licensed tracks

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Occupiers of licensed tracks not to have an interest in bookmaking thereon

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Saving for right of occupier of licensed track to prohibit betting

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Special provisions with respect to young persons

Betting with young persons

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Betting circulars not to be sent to young persons

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Power of entry on tracks

Power of entry on tracks

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Contributions for benefit of horse racing by bookmakers and Totalisator Board

Horserace Betting Levy Board

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• (1) There shall be a Horserace Betting Levy Board (in this Act referred to as “the Levy Board”) which shall be charged with the duty of assessing and collecting in accordance with the subsequent provisions of this Part of this Act, and of applying, subject to those provisions, for purposes conducive to any one or more of the following, that is to say—

• (a) the improvement of breeds of horses;

• (b) the advancement or encouragement of veterinary science or veterinary education;

• (c) the improvement of horse racing,

monetary contributions from bookmakers and betting exchange providers.

• (2) The Levy Board shall consist of a chairman and six other members of whom—

• (a) the chairman and two other members shall be appointed by the Secretary of State and be persons who the Secretary of State is satisfied have no interests connected with horse racing which might hinder them from discharging their functions as members of the Board in an impartial manner;

• (b) three members shall be appointed by the Jockey Club (incorporating the National Hunt Committee)

• (d) one member appointed by the Association of British Bookmakers and the Remote Gambling Association, acting jointly.

• (e) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (2A) If the Association of British Bookmakers and the Remote Gambling Association fail to appoint a member under subsection (2)(d) within a reasonable time, the appointment may be made by the chairman of the Levy Board.

• (3) Any person appointed to be a member of the Levy Board under subsection (2)(a) of this section shall hold and vacate office in accordance with the terms of the instrument under which he was appointed; and any person appointed to be a member of the Board under subsection (2)(b) of this section may be removed from the Board at any time by the body by whom he was appointed.

• (3A) Any person appointed to be a member of the Board under subsection (2)(d) may be removed from the Board at any time by the Association of British Bookmakers and the Remote Gambling Association, acting jointly.

• (4) The Jockey Club, (incorporating the National Hunt Committee) ... may from time to time appoint a person to act in the place of such a member of the Levy Board as is mentioned in subsection (2)(b) ... ... of this section at any meeting of the Levy Board at which that member is unable to be present, and while so acting any such person shall be deemed for the purposes of any act or proceeding of the Levy Board to be a member of that Board.

• (4A) The Association of British Bookmakers and the Remote Gambling Association, acting jointly, may from time to time appoint a person to act in the place of such a person appointed to be a member of the Levy Board as is mentioned in subsection (2)(d) at any meeting of the Levy Board at which that member is unable to be present, and while so acting any such person shall be deemed for the purposes of any act or proceeding of the Levy Board to be a member of that Board.

• (5) The Levy Board shall be a body corporate and shall have perpetual succession and a common seal.

• (6) The Levy Board may pay to the chairman and the two other members appointed by the Secretary of State such remuneration, and to any member of the Board travelling, subsistence or other allowances at such rates, as the Board may with the approval of the Secretary of State determine.

• (6A) The Levy Board may pay such pension or gratuity as the Board may, with the approval of the Secretary of State, determine, to or in respect of the chairman and any other members appointed by the Secretary of State.

• (7) The Levy Board may appoint officers, servants and agents on such terms as to remuneration, pensions or otherwise as the Board may determine.

• (8) The Levy Board may regulate their own procedure and make standing orders governing the conduct of their business.

• (9) No act or proceeding of the Levy Board shall be questioned on account of any vacancy in the number of the members thereof or on account of the appointment of any member having been defective.

General powers and duties of Levy Board

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• (1) The Levy Board shall have power—

• (a) with the approval of, and subject to any conditions imposed by, the Secretary of State, to engage in any activity connected with any of the matters specified in section 24(1)(a) to (c) of this Act;

• (b) to acquire and hold such land as may be reasonably required for the purposes of any of their functions and to sell or lease any land held by them which is not required for those purposes;

• (c) to borrow for the purposes of any of their functions and to give security for any moneys borrowed by them;

• (d) to lend or invest money for the purposes of or in connection with any activity in which they have power under paragraph (a) of this subsection to engage;

• (e) to make such other investments as—

• (i) they judge desirable for the proper conduct of their affairs, and

• (ii) a trustee would be able to make under the general power of investment in section 3 of the Trustee Act 2000 (as restricted by sections 4 and 5 of that Act);

• (f) to do all such things as are incidental to, or conducive to the attainment of the purposes of, any of their functions.

• (2) The Levy Board shall apply any moneys from time to time available in their hands—

• (a) in providing for the payment of rates, taxes, charges, expenses and other outgoings, including any sums which they are required or authorised to pay by virtue of any enactment;

• (b) in retaining such sums and making provision for such matters as they think proper in connection with any of their functions;

• (c) in making such payments as they think fit for charitable purposes;

• (d) subject to the foregoing paragraphs of this subsection, in making payments, in accordance with schemes from time to time prepared by the Levy Board and approved with or without modifications by the Secretary of State, for such purposes as are mentioned in section 24(1) of this Act.

Bookmakers' Committee

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Bookmakers' levy schemes

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• (1) The contributions such as are mentioned in section 24(1) of this Act to be made by bookmakers and betting exchange providers shall be paid by way of a levy in respect of each levy period in accordance with this section.

• (1A) The levy is charged at the rate of 10% of the amount by which a person’s profits for a levy period exceed the exempt amount (see section 27D).

• (1B) The person’s profits for a levy period are the sum of—

• (a) the person’s profits as a bookmaker on leviable bets for the period (see section 27A), and

• (b) the commission charged by the person as a betting exchange provider on leviable bets during the period (see section 27C).

• (1C) The persons by whom the levy is payable include those bookmakers and betting exchange providers who are required to hold remote operating licences.

• (1D) In subsection (1C) “remote operating licence” has the same meaning as in the Gambling Act 2005 (see section 67 of that Act).

• (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Assessment of or exemption from bookmakers' levy

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• (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .