UK Gambling Commission Issues Licensing Authority Statistics for 2025 to 2026

The UK Gambling Commission has published its Licensing Authority Statistics for 2025 to 2026, which detail regulatory activities carried out by local licensing authorities under the Gambling Act 2005 across Great Britain, and the release marks the most recent official update on these matters as of 31 July 2026.

These statistics cover premises licensing decisions together with enforcement actions taken by local authorities, while they also record the number of applications processed and the outcomes of compliance checks conducted throughout the period, and observers note that such data provides a clear picture of how the Gambling Act 2005 continues to shape oversight at the local level.

Scope of the Data Release

Local licensing authorities handle applications for premises licences that allow betting shops, casinos, bingo halls and other gambling venues to operate, yet the 2025 to 2026 figures also track variations in licence grants, refusals and revocations along with any conditions attached to approvals, and the Commission compiles these returns to give a nationwide view of activity under the legislation.

Enforcement forms another core element of the statistics, because authorities report visits, warnings and prosecutions related to breaches of licence conditions or illegal gambling operations, and the data therefore shows both the volume of routine inspections and the instances where formal action followed detected non-compliance.

Premises Licensing Trends

Figures in the report indicate how many new premises licence applications local authorities received during the year, while they also break down approvals by venue type and by region, and such breakdowns allow comparisons between urban and rural areas as well as between different categories of gambling premises, and authorities further recorded the number of licence variations sought by operators seeking changes to opening hours or gaming machine entitlements.

Renewal applications appear separately in the statistics, because existing licence holders must apply at set intervals, and the data reveals the proportion of renewals granted without additional conditions compared with those that attracted new restrictions, while refusals remain relatively low yet still feature in the annual totals.

Enforcement Activity Highlights

Enforcement statistics document the number of compliance visits carried out by licensing officers, and they list the types of issues identified during those visits, such as failures to maintain adequate age verification procedures or shortcomings in staff training records, and authorities also report how many cases progressed to formal hearings or resulted in licence reviews initiated by the Commission itself.

Prosecution figures form part of the dataset as well, because local authorities retain powers to bring cases before magistrates when operators breach the terms of the Gambling Act 2005, and the statistics therefore record successful convictions alongside any fines or licence suspensions imposed by the courts.

Regional Distribution of Activity

The report presents data by nation and by local authority area, so readers can see where the highest volumes of applications and enforcement actions occurred during 2025 to 2026, and the figures show that larger metropolitan areas tended to process more premises licences while also conducting more compliance checks, whereas smaller districts recorded fewer but sometimes more complex cases involving multiple venues.

Cross-border comparisons appear where relevant, because Scotland, England and Wales each operate under the same overarching legislation yet maintain separate local authority structures, and the statistics therefore allow analysts to examine whether patterns of licensing and enforcement differ noticeably between the three nations.

Context Within the Broader Regulatory Framework

The Licensing Authority Statistics sit alongside other Commission publications that focus on remote gambling and national operator compliance, yet they remain the primary source for information about bricks-and-mortar premises oversight conducted at the local level, and together these datasets give a fuller account of how the Gambling Act 2005 operates in practice across Great Britain.

Stakeholders including local councils, trade associations and policy researchers routinely consult these figures when assessing the effectiveness of current licensing arrangements, and the annual release therefore serves as a reference point for discussions about potential adjustments to guidance or to the allocation of enforcement resources.

Conclusion

The UK Gambling Commission's Licensing Authority Statistics for 2025 to 2026 provide a consolidated record of premises licensing decisions and enforcement outcomes delivered by local authorities under the Gambling Act 2005, and the publication as of 31 July 2026 supplies the latest available snapshot of these regulatory activities throughout Great Britain. The data continues to support transparency in the licensing system and offers a factual basis for ongoing monitoring of how local oversight functions within the wider regulatory environment.