Britain’s Prime Minister Andy Burnham has moved to revoke the Aim to Permit rule, dealing a significant blow to high street betting shops across the country.
The Aim to Permit standard, embedded within the 2005 Gambling Act, has long required local councils to lean toward approving gambling venue licensing applications rather than opposing them.
Burnham’s government will scrap the rule across all of Great Britain, covering England, Scotland, and Wales, in a sweeping overhaul of high street regulation.
The Prime Minister stated that “the rise of vape shops, betting shops and rogue operators have replaced the shops, services, and community spaces that people are crying out for,” framing the move as a response to public demand.
Under the new proposals, police will also gain the power to shut down premises suspected of links to organised crime for up to a year, extending the current maximum closure order from six months to twelve.
The government has further pledged to publish guidance helping local authorities improve high street aesthetics, targeting complaints about “garish neon signs” and “oversized logos” from unregulated businesses.
The Aim to Permit policy was originally introduced when Sir Tony Blair’s Labour government liberalised gambling laws in 2005, a period during which Burnham himself served as a minister.
Both the Conservative and Reform parties have criticised the plans, claiming Burnham’s high street overhaul risks creating more empty units across British town centres rather than revitalising them.
A spokesperson for the Betting and Gaming Council pushed back firmly, stating: “We support tough action against criminal operators and agree local people should have a proper say over their high streets. But the suggestion that betting shops are spreading unchecked is simply wrong.”
The BGC spokesperson added that “betting shop numbers have fallen by over a third since 2019,” with around 3,000 shops already closed and more than 15,000 jobs lost across the sector.
The trade body stressed that it was “wrong to lump highly regulated, licensed betting shops together with rogue or criminal businesses,” noting that shops still support 37,500 jobs and serve as “valued community hubs” for many customers.
The BGC concluded that “the real threat to Britain’s hard-pressed high streets is more empty units and fewer local jobs, not businesses rooted in the communities they serve.”
On the opposite side of the debate, the Social Market Foundation welcomed the announcement, with Deputy Research Director Jamie Gollings describing it as “a significant and welcome step for local democracy and thriving communities.”
The SMF has been a consistent advocate for reversing Aim to Permit and has also been among the prominent voices calling for higher gambling taxes in both recent years.
