The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) is set to plan a series of training workshops in order to help local councils identify illegal gaming machines in their constituencies. The UKGC is set to provide training in partnership under its Local Authority Liaison Unit (LALU)
The training courses in identifying illegal machines will be set in gaming premises such retail bookmakers and casinos., in order to give its partakers the feeling of a live gaming environment. The UKGC will ask several retail betting and casino managers to contribute sessions to the training, as many of the policies covered would have been undertaken by betting and casino staff members
The new training scheme follows the success of seven UKGC workshops that were held in 2013. The 2013 workshops attracted support from 400 UK councils and was further supported by UK Police’s governing bodies.
Rob Burkitt Policy Development Manager for the UKGC commented ‘“Issues around suspected illegal gaming machines are one of the main compliance referrals we make to licensing authorities,”
“With the fast moving nature of technical advances in gaming machines, these workshops are a great opportunity for police and council officers to find out what they need to look for when dealing with illegal gaming machines.”