London Government Act 1963

53 Licensing of tracks for betting

(1) The authority empowered to grant licences under Schedule 3 to the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act 1963 authorising the provision of betting facilities on tracks shall, in relation to Greater London, be the Greater London Council; but that Council may delegate their functions under that Schedule to a committee consisting of members thereof, and in that case—

(a) if the committee are specially appointed for the purpose, the number and term of office of the members thereof shall be fixed by the Greater London Council; and

(b) subject to the provisions of that Schedule and to any directions given by the Greater London Council, the procedure of the committee shall be such as they may themselves determine;

and section 5(1) of this Act shall not apply to any functions of the Greater London Council by virtue of this section.

(2) Where, apart from this subsection, the betting days within the meaning of paragraph 14 of the said Schedule 3 for Greater London would fall to be fixed for the period of twelve months beginning with 1st July in any year in accordance with paragraph 15(4) of that Schedule, then, if within the period of one month from the date of the publication of the notice referred to in paragraph 15(2) of that Schedule the authority referred to in subsection (1) of this section receive written notice signed by all the holders of licences under that Schedule for the time being in force in respect of tracks in Greater London, being tracks—

(a) which, immediately before 1st April 1965, were in the same licensing area for the purposes of that Schedule; and

(b) in respect of which such licences were in force immediately before that date,

stating that the signatories unanimously desire that the betting days for that period of twelve months for those tracks should be the days specified in the notice given under this subsection, and those days are days which might lawfully be fixed under that Schedule as the betting days for that period, that authority shall fix as the betting days for those tracks for that period the days so specified and the said paragraph 15(4) shall not apply thereto.

(3) Where in the case of any particular track or group of tracks the betting days for any such period of twelve months as aforesaid are fixed by virtue of subsection (2) of this section, so much of paragraph 14(3) of the said Schedule 3 as requires , the betting days or, as the case may be, the four of those days fixed as special betting days for the purposes of section 7 (2) of the said Act of 1963 to be the same for the whole of Greater London shall be construed in relation to that period as a requirement that—

(a) those of any betting days fixed by virtue of subsection (2) of this section which are fixed as special betting days shall be the same for all the tracks for which those betting days are fixed ;

(b) any betting days fixed otherwise than by virtue of subsection (2) of this section and those of them fixed as special betting days shall be the same for the whole of Greater London;

and unless the betting days fixed for that period are the same for the whole of Greater London, any reference in section 6(3) or 15(1)(a) of the said Act of 1963 to one of the betting days fixed as mentioned in that provision shall be construed in relation to any track in Greater London as a reference to one of the days fixed in accordance with that Schedule or subsection (2) of this section as the days on which betting facilities may be provided on that particular track.