Betting and Lotteries Act 1934

If bookmaking is carried on, or a totalisator is operated, by any person on any track on a day on which betting on that track is prohibited by this section, that person, and if he is not the occupier of the track, the occupier also, shall be guilty of an offence :

Provided that where the occupier of a track is charged with an offence by reason of a contravention of this section on the part of another person, it shall be a defence for him to prove that the contravention occurred without his knowledge.

Bookmaking shall not be carried on on any licensed track on any day not being one of the days appointed in accordance with this Part of this Act as the days on which betting facilities may be provided on licensed tracks in the licensing area in which the track is situate.

If bookmaking is carried on by any person on any track on any day in contravention of this section, that person, and, if he is not the occupier of the track, the occupier also, shall be guilty of an offence:

Provided that where the occupier of a track is charged with an offence by reason of a contravention of this section on the part of another person, it shall be a defence for him to prove that the contravention occurred without his knowledge.

Save as is permitted by the preceding subsection, no person shall use any premises whether situate on a track or not, or cause or knowingly permit any such premises to be used, as a place where persons resorting thereto may effect pari mutuel or pool betting transactions.

Every person who contravenes any of the provisions of this section shall be guilty of an offence.

Betting by way of bookmaking or by means of a totalisator shall not take place on any day on a track being a dog racecourse, in connection with more than eight dog races, and betting by way of bookmaking or by means of a totalisator on the results of dog races shall not take place on any day on such a track as aforesaid except during one continuous period not exceeding four hours :

Provided that, in relation to any of the four special appointed days fixed in any year by the licensing authority in accordance with this section, the foregoing provisions of this subsection shall have effect as if there were therein substituted for the word " eight " the word " sixteen " and for the words " one continuous period not exceeding four hours" the words " a period or periods not exceeding eight hours in the aggregate."

If bookmaking is carried on or a totalisator is operated by any person on any track in contravention of this section, that person, and if he is not the occupier of the track, the occupier also, shall be guilty of an offence:

Provided that where the occupier of a track is charged with an offence by reason of a contravention of this section on the part of another person, it shall be a defence for him to prove that the contravention occurred without his knowledge.

The licensing authority, when fixing the appointed days for any year in accordance with this Part of this Act, shall also fix four of those days (which four days shall be the same for the whole of their licensing area) as the special appointed days for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section.

If a county council elect under the foregoing provisions of this section to delegate their functions under this Part of this Act to the standing joint committee, it shall be the duty of that committee to discharge those functions so long as the delegation is in force.

Where functions under this Part of this Act are delegated to a committee or joint committee, the number and term of office of the members thereof shall, in the case of a committee or joint committee specially appointed for the purpose, be fixed by the appointing council or councils, and, subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act and to any directions given by the appointing council or councils, the procedure of the committee or joint committee shall be such as they may themselves determine.

Any expenses incurred in the execution of this Part of this Act by a standing joint committee shall be defrayed by the council of the county, and any expenses so incurred by any other joint committee shall be defrayed by the appointing councils in such shares as may be agreed.

A standing joint committee to whom the functions of a county council under this Part of this Act are delegated under this section shall have such powers as are conferred on councils of counties and county boroughs by paragraph (b) of the proviso to subsection (1) of this section, and accordingly references in that paragraph and in subsections (3) and (4) of this section to a council or councils shall be construed as including references to such a standing joint committee as aforesaid.

Section two hundred and seventy-four of the [23 & 24 Geo. 5. c. 51.] Local Government Act, 1933, shall not apply in relation to the functions of a county council under this Part of this Act.

Every licensing authority shall, as soon as maybe after the passing of this Act, and may subsequently from time to time, fix the dates on which they will entertain applications from the occupiers of tracks within their licensing area for the grant of licences, and shall cause information as to the dates so fixed to be given to any person who asks for it.

The dates first so fixed shall be such as will enable licences to be granted so as to take effect on the first day of July, nineteen hundred and thirty-five.

No application for a licence shall be entertained unless, at least two months before the date on which the application is made, the applicant has given to the licensing authority, to the council of the county district or metropolitan borough in which the track or any part thereof is situate, to the responsible authority under any planning scheme in force in an area which includes the track or any part thereof and to the chief officer of police notice in writing stating that it is intended to make the application on that date, and containing such particulars as are hereinafter mentioned, and has also published such a notice in at least two newspapers circulating in the locality in which the track is situate.

The notice required by this subsection shall describe the situation of the track and the number and position of the exits provided or intended to be provided, and state the number of spectators for whom accommodation is provided or is intended to be provided.

Every such notice as aforesaid given in respect of any track to the licensing authority shall, until the hearing of the application to which the notice relates, be kept by the licensing authority at their offices so as to be available, at any time during office hours, for inspection by any member of the public free of charge.

An application for the grant of a licence in respect of a track which it is proposed to construct may be made by a person who proposes to become the occupier of the track if a licence is granted, and, in relation to such an application, any reference in this or the next following section to a track shall be construed as including a reference to the site of the proposed track.

Save as is mentioned in the last preceding subsection or, as the case may be, in the next following section of this Act, the licensing authority shall hot refuse any application for the grant of a licence

Where the licensing authority refuse an application for the grant of a licence, they shall send to the applicant by post a written statement of the grounds of their refusal.

The provisions of this section apply in relation to any .track on which on more than eight days in the year nineteen hundred and thirty-three book-making was carried on in connection with sporting events on that track, and every such track is hereafter in this section referred to as " an existing track."

Every such declaration as aforesaid delivered to the licensing authority in connection with any application for a licence shall, until the hearing of the application, and, if the application is granted, so long as the licence remains in force, be kept by the licensing authority at their offices so as to be available at any time during office hours for inspection by any member of the public free of charge.

Where an application for a licence in respect of an existing track is made under this section, then, if the conditions laid down in paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of this section have been complied with, no objection to the grant of the licence shall be entertained by the licensing authority except an objection made on the ground that the statements contained in the declaration made by the applicant for the purposes of paragraph (a) of that subsection are untrue. Save as aforesaid, the provisions of subsection (4) of section six of this Act shall apply in relation to any such application.

Every person who knowingly makes any false statement in a declaration delivered to the licensing authority in pursuance of this section shall be guilty of an offence.

Subject to the provisions of the last preceding section as to the first licences granted in respect of certain tracks, a licence shall, unless revoked or cancelled under the following provisions of this Part of this Act, be in force for seven years from the date on which it is expressed to take effect.

The licensing authority, if they think fit, may at any time, on an application made to them after notice in writing to the chief officer of police, direct that a licence granted to any person in respect of a track, or the site of a proposed track, within their licensing area shall be transferred to another person, and thereupon the transferee shall, subject as hereinafter provided, be deemed to be the holder of the licence :

Provided that, if the transferee is not the occupier of the track or the site, the transfer shall not take effect until he becomes the occupier thereof.

In the event of the death of the holder of a licence, his legal personal representative shall, during the period of three months from the date of the death, be deemed to be the holder of the licence, notwithstanding that it has not been transferred to him.

The licensing authority shall, upon receiving from the holder of a licence for the time being in force a written request in that behalf accompanied by the licence, cancel the licence, which shall thereupon cease to be in force.

In respect of any application for a licence, such fee not exceeding ten pounds as the licensing authority may from time to time fix for their licensing area, shall be payable by the applicant before the hearing of the application, but, if the licence is granted, the fee so paid shall be treated as a payment on account of the first annual payment to be made in respect of the licence under the next following subsection.

In respect of every licence, such annual fee not exceeding fifty pounds as the licensing authority may fix annually shall be payable during the currency of the licence by the person who is for the time being the holder thereof, and the first of such payments shall be made on the day on which the licence takes effect, and subsequent payments shall be made at intervals of twelve months thereafter.

In respect of any transfer of a licence, such fee not exceeding ten pounds as the licensing authority may from time to time fix for their area shall be payable by the person to whom the licence is transferred.

Every fee which by virtue of this section is payable by any person shall be recoverable from that person by the licensing authority as- a debt due from him to them.

A standing joint committee who receive any sum in respect of fees paid under this section, shall pay, or account for, that sum to the county council represented on the committee'.

Not later than the end of May in each year, every licensing authority shaft, subject to the provisions of this section, fix one hundred and four, days in the year which, begins on the first day of July next following, as the days, on which betting facilities may be provided on licensed tracks within their licensing and the days fixed in pursuance of this section are in this Part of this Act referred to as " appointed days " :

Provided that a licensing authority shall not be bound (so fix in advance appointed days in any year if it appears to them that at the commencement of that year no licence in respect of a track in their licensing area will be in force, but, if they avail themselves of this provision, then, so soon as they grant a licence to take effect on any date during that year, they shall proceed to fix appointed days in the period between the day preceding that date and the first day of the next year, and the number of the days to be so fixed shall be twice the number of the complete weeks in that period.

The appointed days fixed by a licensing authority shall be the same for the whole of their licensing area, and shall not include any Good Friday, Christmas Day or Sunday.

In this section the expression " week " means a period of seven consecutive days beginning on a Sunday.

The provisions of the First Schedule to this Act shall have effect with respect to every totalisator operated in pursuance of this section on a licensed track being a dog racecourse, and if any person operating a totalisator on such a track contravenes, or fails to comply with, any of the provisions of that Schedule not being a provision failure to comply with which is punishable under that Schedule, he shall be guilty of an offence.

The occupier of any licensed track may make to a bookmaker, or to any assistant accompanying a bookmaker to- the track for the purpose of his business, any charge for admission to any particular part of the track not exceeding, in the case of a bookmaker, five times the amount, or, in the case of an assistant, the amount, of the highest charge made to members of the public for admission to that part of the track:

Provided that there shall not be made to any bookmaker or bookmaker's assistant for admission to any particular part of the track any charge differing in amount from the charge made to any other bookmaker or bookmaker's assistant, as the case may be, for admission to that part of the track.

If any charge other than a charge authorised by the preceding subsection is made to a bookmaker or an assistant of a bookmaker, or if any payment, valuable thing or favour, other than a charge so authorised, is demanded or received by or for the benefit of the occupier of a track as a consideration for facilities being given to a bookmaker for the carrying on of his business, the person immediately responsible and also the occupier of the track shall be guilty of an offence:

Provided that where the occupier of a track is charged with an offence under this section by reason of an act of another person, it shall be a defence for the occupier to prove that the act took place without his knowledge.

If any person employs on any track for the purposes of his business as a bookmaker or commission agent, or in connection with the operation of a totalisator, a person apparently under, or known to him to be under, the age of eighteen years, he shall be guilty of an offence.

Upon a charge under this section in respect of a person apparently under the age of eighteen years, it shall be a defence to prove that, at the time of the alleged offence, he had in fact attained that age.

In this section the expression " commission agent" includes any person who by way of business receives bets to be transmitted by him directly or indirectly to another person with a view to the bets being made by means of a totalisator.

Section four of the Racecourse Betting Act, 1928, is hereby repealed.

The holder of a licence which has been revoked under this section may appeal, in accordance with the provisions of the [12 & 13 Vict. c. 45.] Quarter Sessions Act, 1849, to the next practicable court of quarter sessions having jurisdiction in the county, borough or place in which the track is situate and held not less than twenty-one clear days after notice of the revocation is given to him by the licensing authority.

In any case arising under this subsection, the notice of appeal shall be given to the licensing authority and to the clerk of the peace.

Where a licensing authority revoke a licence under this section, then, until the time within which notice of an appeal under this section may be given has expired and, if such notice is duly given, until the determination of the appeal, the licence shall be deemed to continue in force, and if the court of quarter sessions confirm the decision of the licensing authority, the court may, if they think fit, order that the licence shall continue in force for a further period not exceeding two months from the date of the order.

The power of the Racecourse Betting Control Board under subsection (2) of section one of the Racecourse Betting Act, 1928, to authorise any person to set up and keep, or to operate, a totalisator on an approved racecourse shall be limited to the giving of such authority to the persons having the management of the racecourse, and where such authority is so given, such deductions as the Board may, under paragraph (3) of section three of the said Act, direct to be made from moneys staked by means of the totalisator shall be paid into the totalisator fund, but the Board may pay out of that fund to the persons having the management of the racecourse the amount of the expenses shown to the satisfaction of the Board to have been properly incurred by those persons in connection with the setting up, keeping and operation of the totalisator.

For the avoidance of doubts it is hereby declared that the powers of the Racecourse Betting Control Board under the Racecourse Betting Act, 1928, include, and always have included, power to remunerate any person, by the payment of commissions or otherwise, in respect of the negotiation, receipt or transmission by that person of bets to be made by means of a totalisator lawfully operated on an approved horse racecourse and to provide facilities on any such racecourse for persons engaged in receiving bets to be so made.

Nothing in the Racecourse Betting Act, 1928, shall be construed as restricting the betting transactions which may be effected by means of a totalisator lawfully operated on an approved horse racecourse on any day to betting transactions upon the result of a single race, or upon the result or results of a race or races run on that course or run on that day.

The percentage of the moneys staked which may be deducted under paragraph (3) of section three of the Racecourse Betting Act, 1928, may be a percentage of the whole or of any part of such moneys.

The purposes for which the Racecourse Betting Control Board, acting under paragraph (6) of section three of the Racecourse Betting Act, 1928, may, in accordance with a scheme approved by the Secretary of State, apply moneys comprised in the totalisator fund shall include purposes conducive to the advancement and encouragement of veterinary science and education.

In this Part of this Act the following expressions have, unless the context otherwise requires, the meanings hereby assigned to them :—

• " approved horse racecourse " means a track which is an approved racecourse within the meaning of the Racecourse Betting Act, 1928;

• " bookmaker " means any person who, whether on his own account or as servant or agent to any other person, carries on, whether occasionally or regularly, the business of receiving or negotiating bets or conducting pari mutuel or pool betting operations, or who in any manner holds himself out, or permits himself to be held out in any manner, as a person who receives or negotiates bets or conducts such operations, and " bookmaking " shall be construed accordingly; so, however, that a person shall not be deemed to be a bookmaker by reason only of the fact that he operates, or is employed in operating a totalisator, and the operating of a totalisator shall be deemed not to be bookmaking;

• " chief officer of police " and " police area '' have the same meanings as in the [11 & 12 Geo. 5. c. 31.] Police Pensions Act, 1921, and, in relation to any particular track or proposed track, the first mentioned expression means the chief officer of police within whose police area the track, or the site of the proposed track, is situate;

• " dog race " means a race in which an object propelled by mechanical means is pursued by dogs, and " dog racecourse" shall be construed accordingly;

• " licence " means a licence granted under this Part of this Act;

• " licensed track " means a track in respect of which a licence is for the time being in force;

• " licensing area " means the area over which a licensing authority have jurisdiction;

• " licensing authority " means a council or committee having power to grant licences and, in relation to a track or proposed track, means the licensing authority having jurisdiction in the licensing area in which the track or proposed track is, or will be, situate;

• " planning authority " means, in relation to any land subject to a planning scheme or a resolution to prepare or adopt such a scheme, the authority having power to control the development or interim development of that land, and includes any tribunal or authority to whom an appeal lies from any decisions of a planning authority;

• " planning scheme " means a scheme made under the [15 & 16 Geo. 5. c. 16.] Town Planning Act, 1925, or the [22 & 23 Geo. 5. c. 48.] Town and Country Planning Act, 1932, or any enactment repealed by either of those Acts;

• " quarter sessions area " means the area within which a court of quarter sessions have jurisdiction;

• " totalisator " means the contrivance for betting known as the totalisator or pari mutuel, or any other machine or instrument of betting of a like nature, whether mechanically operated or not;

• " track " means premises on which races of any description, athletic sports or other sporting events take place ;

• " year " means a period of twelve consecutive months beginning on the first day of July.

Where a track or the site of a proposed track extends into two or more licensing areas, or two or more quarter sessions areas, the track or site shall, for the purpose of this Part of this Act, be deemed to be situate wholly within that area which comprises the greater part of the superficial area of the track or site.

Where a track or the site of a proposed track extends into two or more police areas, anything which by this Part of this Act is required to be done to, or is authorised to be done by, the chief officer of police, shall be done to, or, as the case may be, may be done by, the chief officer of police of each of those areas.

In any proceedings instituted under the preceding subsection it shall be a defence to prove that the lottery to which the proceedings relate was such a lottery as is declared by any subsequent section of this Part of this Act not to be an unlawful lottery, and that at the date of the alleged offence the defendant believed, and had reasonable ground for believing, that none of the conditions required by that section to be observed in connection with the promotion and conduct of the lottery had been broken.

Proceedings under sub-paragraph (iii) of paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of this section in respect of any matter published in a newspaper shall not be instituted except by, or by direction of, the Director of Public Prosecutions.

A lottery promoted as an incident of an entertainment to which this section applies shall be deemed not to be an unlawful lottery, but the conditions specified in the next succeeding subsection shall be observed in connection with the promotion and conduct of the lottery, and if any of those conditions is broken, every person concerned in the promotion or conduct of the lottery shall be guilty of an offence unless he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge.

The entertainments to which this section applies are bazaars, sales of work, fetes and other entertainments of a similar character, whether limited to one day or extending over two or more days.

If any of the conditions specified in the preceding subsection is broken, each of the promoters of the lottery, and where the person by whom the condition is broken is not one of the promoters, that person also, shall be guilty of an offence :

Provided that it shall be a defence for a person charged only by reason of his being a promoter of the lottery to prove that the offence was committed without his knowledge.

The power of His Majesty under section one of the [9 & 10 Vict. c. 48.] Art Unions Act, 1846, to revoke or annul the charter, deed or other instrument under which an Art Union has been constituted may be exercised by His Majesty at any time upon a recommendation from the President of the Board of Trade that it is desirable for His Majesty so to do, and it shall not be necessary to the exercise of that power that there should have been given such a certificate as is mentioned in the said section.

In the case of an Art Union constituted under a deed or other instrument, not being a charter, the power of annulment referred to in the foregoing subsection may be exercised also by the President of the Board of Trade or, in his absence, by a Secretary of State, if, in the opinion of the President or Secretary of State, as the case may be, it is expedient, having regard to the circumstances, that immediate action be taken in the matter.

Save as aforesaid, nothing in this Part of this Act shall affect the operation of the Art Unions Act, 1846, and a lottery promoted and conducted in accordance with that Act, as amended by this section, shall be deemed not to be an unlawful lottery.

Any person who contravenes the provisions of this section shall be guilty of an offence, without prejudice, however, to his liability, if any, to be proceeded against under the preceding provisions of this Part of this Act relating to lotteries.

In this Part of this Act the following expressions have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them, that is to say :—

• " chief officer of police " has the same meaning as in the Police Pensions Act, 1921;

• " money " includes a cheque, banknote, postal order or money order;

• " newspaper " includes any journal, magazine or other periodical publication;

• " ticket " includes, in relation to any lottery or proposed lottery, any document evidencing the claim of a person to participate in the chances of the lottery.

The court before which a person is proved to have committed any offence under Part II of this Act in relation to a lottery or proposed lottery shall order to be forfeited any coins and bank notes produced to the court which are shown to the satisfaction of the courtto represent the price of tickets or chances, or prize money, or prizes in the lottery, and shall order to be destroyed all documents (other than bank notes) produced to the court which are shown to the satisfaction of the court to relate to the promotion or conduct of the lottery.

For any reference in section five of this Act to the council of an administrative county there shall be substituted a reference to a county council, or to the joint county council of the combined county in any case where two counties are combined for the purposes mentioned in subsection (7) of section ten of the [19 & 20 Geo. 5. c. 25.] Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1929; for any reference to a county borough there shall be substituted a reference to a large burgh as defined in the Said Act, and for the purposes of the said section five every other burgh shall be deemed to be included in the county in which it is situate.

For any reference to section two hundred and seventy four of the Local Government Act, 1933, there shall be substituted a reference to section thirteen of the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1929, and for references to the Town Planning Act, 1925, and the Town and Country Planning Act, 1932, there shall be respectively substituted references to the [15 & 16 Geo. 5. c. 17.] Town Planning (Scotland) Act, 1925, and the [22 & 23 Geo. 5. c. 49.] Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act, 1932.

The following subsection shall be substituted for subsection (4) of section six and any reference to the said subsection (4) shall be construed as a reference to the following subsection:—

The following subsection shall be substituted for subsection (2) of section sixteen—

Any reference to a court of quarter sessions shall be construed as a reference to the sheriff and any reference to a quarter sessions area shall be construed as a reference to the area within which a sheriff is entitled to exercise jurisdiction.

Subsection (3) of section twenty-two shall not apply.

The power conferred by section twenty-seven on a justice of the peace shall be exercisable also by the sheriff .

This Act may be cited as the Betting and Lotteries Act, 1934.

Sections five to ten, sections eighteen and twenty and sections twenty-nine to thirty-one of this Act shall come into operation forthwith, and Part II of this Act and (except in so far as it effects the repeal of any provision of the Racecourse Betting Act, 1928), section thirty-two of this Act shall come into operation on the first day of January, nineteen hundred and thirty-five, but save as aforesaid this Act shall come into operation on the first day of July, nineteen hundred and thirty-five.

This Act does not extend to Northern Ireland.