Mr Malcolm Moss (Shadow Minister, Home Affairs; North East Cambridgeshire, Conservative)

I beg to move amendment No. 259, in clause 126, page 57, line 37, at end add—

'(3) The provisions of this section shall not prevent the reissuing of a personal licence which authorises the performance of more than one function, which function may include requirements for remote gambling and non-remote gambling'.

The amendment is designed to make it clear that a function can be added to a licence and the licence then reissued to reflect all the functions that have been approved. That would allow an individual to operate under an operating licence that requires a number of different functions. Under clause 64, which is headed ''Combined licence'', the commission may issue operating licences to cover more than one of the 10 types of licence, provided that they are remote or non-remote. The amendment would permit a personal licence, which would fall under the requirements of separate remote and non-remote operating licences.

Mr Richard Caborn (Minister of State (Sport and Tourism), Department for Culture, Media & Sport; Sheffield Central, Labour)

The Bill clearly states that the commission cannot issue combined remote or non-remote licences. That was a deliberate policy decision designed to ensure appropriate regulation of different types of gambling. Remote and non-remote gambling require different regulation, which places different demands on the gambling commission. For example, the age-checking systems required by online bookies are very different from those that might be expected of a betting shop. The same applies to anti-money laundering procedures and the management of customer accounts. It is essential that those differences are reflected in tailored licensing conditions set out in separate licences.

There is nothing to prevent an operator from applying for a remote licence and a non-remote licence, but I maintain that qualification for one should not entitle someone to qualification for another and I ask the hon. Gentleman to withdraw his amendment. 

Mr Malcolm Moss (Shadow Minister, Home Affairs; North East Cambridgeshire, Conservative)

There will be, and already are, occasions when servers are used for remote gambling and onshore gambling. We have discussed equipment and no doubt that will be sorted out later. The amendment is an attempt simply to enable personal licences to reflect that mode of operation. If the Minister is adamant that there must be a separate remote, as opposed to non-remote, licence and that that is enshrined in the Bill, we shall not make much progress on that. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Clause 126 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clauses 127 and 128 ordered to stand part of the Bill.