Clause 105 - Renewal of licence
Gambling Bill
10:00 am
Mr Richard Caborn (Minister of State (Sport and Tourism), Department for Culture, Media & Sport; Sheffield Central, Labour)
The hon. Gentleman may be surprised, but there was a good reason for it, which I will now explain. Failure to pay a fee is not the same as a core renewal issue, which is referred to in later clauses. The safeguard—the hon. Gentleman must have missed this during his momentary deafness—is that the operator may apply for renewal up to three months before the licence expires and must have done so at least one month before expiry to ensure that the commission has time to renew it. That is to provide an adequate period for the gambling commission to look at the licence for renewal. It is not for failure to pay a fee.