Gaming Act 1968 (repealed)

42 Restrictions on advertisements relating to gaming. E+W+S

(1) Except as provided by this section, no person shall issue, or cause to be issued, any advertisement—

(a) informing the public that any premises in Great Britain are premises on which gaming takes place or is to take place, or

(b) inviting the public to take part as players in any gaming which takes place, or is to take place, on any such premises, or to apply for information about facilities for taking part as players in any gaming which takes place, or is to take place, in Great Britain, or

(c) inviting the public to subscribe any money or money’s worth to be used in gaming whether in Great Britain or elsewhere, or to apply for information about facilities for subscribing any money or money’s worth to be so used. [F1 or

(d) containing an inducement to the public to take part as players in a game of bingo, or to become members of a club to which section 20 of this Act applies, or

(e) containing any such matter relating to any relevant premises, to any activities carried on at any relevant premises or to any club operating from any relevant premises as may be specified or described in regulations made by the Secretary of State.]

[F2 (1A) For the purposes of this section any advertisement displayed on a sign or notice which—

(a) is within 400 metres of any relevant premises;

(b) contains sufficient information about the premises to indicate their location; and

(c) contains anything which constitutes an inducement to attend the premises or to become a member of a club operating from the premises,

shall be taken to fall within subsection (1)(a) of this section whether or not it indicates that the premises are relevant premises and notwithstanding that it does not inform the public that any premises are premises on which gaming takes place or is to take place.]

(2) [F3 Subsection (1) of this section] does not apply to any advertisement in so far as it relates to gaming which is, or is to be,—

(a) gaming as an incident of an entertainment to which section 33 of this Act applies, or

(b) gaming to which section 41 of this Act applies, or

(c) gaming on any premises to which paragraph 4 of Schedule 9 to this Act applies and in respect of which a permit under section 34 of this Act is for the time being in force, or

(d) gaming on any premises to which paragraph [F4 3 of Schedule 3 to the M1 Lotteries and Amusements Act 1976 applies and in respect of which a permit under s. 16] of that Act is for the time being in force, or

(e) gaming at any travelling showmen’s pleasure fair.

(3) Subsection (1) of this section does not apply to—

(a) the display, on any premises in respect of which a licence under this Act is for the time being in force [F5 other than bingo club premises], of a sign or notice indicating that gaming takes place, or is to take place, on those premises, whether the sign or notice is displayed inside or outside the premises, or

(b) the publication or display of a notice, where the notice is required to be published or displayed by any provision of Schedules 2 to 4 to this Act and the publication or display is so made as to comply with the requirements of that provision, or

(c) the publication in any newspaper of a notice stating that a licence under this Act has been granted, if the notice is published not later than fourteen days from the date on which the licence was granted or from such later date as may be appointed by the licensing authority by whom the licence was granted, and the notice is in a form approved by the licensing authority; [F6 or

(d) the display on any bingo club premises (whether or not so as to be visible from outside those premises) of a sign or notice indicating the amount, value or description of anything that has been or may be won in a game of bingo—

(i) by a player present on those premises, or

(ii) by a player present on premises which (by virtue of section 20(2) of this Act) are regarded as the same as those premises for the purposes of section 12(1) of this Act, or

(e) the display on any bingo club premises, so as not to be visible from outside those premises, of a sign or notice indicating the amount, value or description of anything that has been or may be won in a game of bingo by a player regarded, by virtue of section 2(1) of the Gaming (Bingo) Act 1985 (multiple bingo), as present on those premises for the purposes of section 12(1) of this Act, or

(f) the inclusion in an advertisement in a newspaper circulating throughout England and Wales or Scotland of information as to the amount, value or description of anything that has been or may be won by a player in a game of multiple bingo, or

(g) the inclusion in an advertisement to which subsection (3A) or (3B) of this section applies of—

(i) the information that any bingo club premises are premises on which gaming in the form of the playing of bingo takes place, or is to take place; or

(ii) an invitation to the public to take part in gaming in that form;]

and, in the case of any premises in respect of which a club is for the time being registered under Part II or Part III of this Act, subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to any advertisement by reason only that it contains the name of the club.

[F7 (3A) This subsection applies to any advertisement displayed on a sign or notice where—

(a) the advertisement does not contain a relevant inducement, and

(b) the sign or notice is displayed either—

(i) on the bingo club premises in question, whether inside or outside the premises; or

(ii) at a place which is not within 400 metres of any sign or notice on which an advertisement containing a relevant inducement is displayed.

(3B) This subsection applies to any other advertisement in documentary form where the advertisement—

(a) does not contain a relevant inducement, and

(b) is neither published in, nor distributed with—

(i) a newspaper circulating throughout England and Wales or Scotland; or

(ii) any other publication or document in which there is a relevant inducement contained in another advertisement.

(3C) References in subsections (3A) and (3B) of this section to a relevant inducement are references to anything which (with or without indicating that they are relevant premises) constitutes an inducement—

(a) to attend any relevant premises which are at the same location as the premises to which the information or invitation mentioned in subsection (3)(g) of this section relates, or

(b) to become a member of a club operating from premises at that location.]

(4) Subsection (1) of this section does not apply to the publication of an advertisement in a newspaper which circulates wholly or mainly outside Great Britain.

(5) Where a person is charged with an offence under this section, it shall be a defence to prove that he is a person whose business it is to publish or arrange for the publication of advertisements and that he received the advertisement in question for publication in the ordinary course of business and did not know and had no reason to suspect that its publication would amount to an offence under this section.

(6) For the purposes of this section an advertisement issued by displaying or exhibiting it shall be treated as issued on every day on which it is displayed or exhibited.

(7) Subject to subsection (5) of this section, any person who contravenes subsection (1) of this section shall be guilty of an offence and liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £400;

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both.

[F8 (8) In this section—

• “advertisement” includes every form of advertising, whether in a publication or by the display of notices or by means of circulars or other documents or by an exhibition of photographs or a cinematograph film, or by way of sound broadcasting or television or by inclusion in a programme service (within the meaning of the M2 Broadcasting Act 1990) that is not a sound or television broadcasting service and references to the issue of an advertisement shall be construed accordingly;

• “bingo club premises” has the meaning given by section 20 of this Act;

• “inducement” in relation to taking part as a player in a game of bingo, to attending any premises or to becoming a member of any club, means any of the following so far as they appear to be connected with taking part in such a game, attending those premises or becoming such a member, namely—

  (a)

  any promise of a gift,

  (b)

  any offer of, or information about, an opportunity to receive a gift or to win a prize,

  (c)

  any information as to the amount, value or description of anything that has been or may be won in any game;

• “multiple bingo” has the same meaning as in the M3 Gaming (Bingo) Act 1985;

• “public” means the public in Great Britain, and includes any section of the public in Great Britain, however selected;

• “relevant premises” means any bingo club premises or premises containing bingo club premises or any premises which are at the same location as any bingo club premises and are occupied with, or used in association with, those bingo club premises.]

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 42(1)(d)(e) and 'or' preceding them inserted (6. 5. 1992) by Bingo Act 1992 (c. 10), ss. 1(2), 2(2).

F2 S. 42(1A) inserted (6. 5. 1992) by Bingo Act 1992 (c. 10), ss. 1(3), 2(2).

F3 Words in s. 42(2) substituted (6. 5. 1992) by Bingo Act 1992 (c. 10), ss. 1(4), 2(2).

F4 Words substituted by Lotteries and Amusements Act 1976 (c. 32), Sch. 4 para. 4

F5 Words in s. 42(3)(a) inserted (6. 5. 1992) by Bingo Act 1992 (c. 10), ss. 1(5), 2(2).

F6 S. 42(3)(d)-(g) and 'or' preceding them inserted (6. 5. 1992) by Bingo Act 1992 (c. 10), ss. 1(6), 2(2).

F7 S. 42(3A)-(3C) inserted (6. 5. 1992) by Bingo Act 1992 (c. 10), ss. 1(7), 2(2).

F8 S. 42(8) substituted (6. 5. 1992) by Bingo Act 1992 (c. 10), ss. 1(8), 2(2).

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 42(3)(a) explained by Gaming (Bingo) Act 1985 (c. 35, SIF 12:1), s. 2(4)

Marginal Citations

M1 1976 c. 32.

M2 1990 c.42.

M3 1985 c.35.