UK Gambling Minister Vicky Foxcroft has said a consultation on revoking the “aim to permit” licensing objective will be “starting very shortly,” pointing to a potentially significant change in gambling licensing policy during a panel last week.
Foxcroft did not give a firm timetable, but the review could ultimately supersede gambling impact assessments, or GIAs, which became law under the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act at the end of April.
The GIAs give local authorities greater discretion to reject gambling licenses where approval would conflict with other licensing objectives, including in areas with a high concentration of gambling premises.
Dawn Butler MP argued that the assessments were too weak and said the government should instead prioritize reform of “aim to permit.” British Amusement Catering Trades Association President Joseph Cullis took a different view, saying the assessments had offered a middle ground between retaining the current system and removing the licensing objective. “We weren’t against that. We welcomed that,” Cullis said.
Foxcroft’s remarks also covered bingo regulation. The Gambling Minister said the government plans to update licensing requirements to ensure “that it is bingo that is taking place.”
Alex Ballinger MP raised concerns that some bingo halls were increasingly operating in a way similar to adult gaming centers, amid debate over machine games duty ahead of the autumn budget.
Foxcroft also said she wanted to “make sure we follow the evidence” as campaigners pressed the government for stronger action on gambling harm and advertising.
Will Prochaska, director of the Coalition to End Gambling Advertising, pointed to the Lords Liaison Committee’s recommendation for a comprehensive UK gambling advertising ban and argued that Britain already has an extensive evidence base on gambling harm.
“I think what you’ll come to find, Minister, is that the idea that there’s not enough evidence is an industry construct. Britain has more evidence about the causation of gambling harms and the links to the product types than any other jurisdiction globally and yet has had some of the weakest regulation,” Prochaska stated.
Moderator James Noyes also questioned whether additional funding should be directed toward research. The government’s separate consultation on banning sponsorship of UK sports clubs by unlicensed gambling operators closed on September 9. Foxcroft did not disclose any concrete results from that process.
The panel, organized by CEGA and think tank More in Common, was Foxcroft’s first substantial public appearance on gambling policy since taking over the DCMS brief in early August 2026. Her portfolio also includes youth, digital inclusion, civil society and loneliness.
Butler welcomed Foxcroft’s participation, noting that gambling ministers had not always attended similar discussions. Noyes closed the session by asking attendees to reserve judgment until next year, when he hoped there would have been “tangible progress.”