Lambeth council’s licensing sub-committee (LSC) has agreed that the Admiral slot machine gambling “casino” in the centre of Brixton can operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Admiral, at 510 Brixton Road, near McDonald’s, is now the second establishment with such a licence in the town centre. The other is Game Nation at 371 Brixton Road near the junction with Stockwell Road.
The Admiral application faced 26 representations against it, one from the licensing authority– in effect the council itself. Objectors included local MPs and councillors.
The LSC said it had considered all the relevant evidence and information presented to it and had also taken into account all the matters it was bound, under legislation, to take account of.
This legislation includes section 153 of the Gambling Act 2005, which says licensing authorities should “aim to permit” the use of premises in so far as the licensing authority think it is in accordance
(a) the Gambling Commission’s codes of practice;
(b) the Gambling Commissions’ guidance to local authorities; and
(c) reasonably consistent with … licensing objectives; and
(d) in accordance with the licensing authority’s own statement of licensing principles.
“In the course of the LSC’s deliberations we reminded ourselves of the aim to permit requirements and the advice to local authorities in the Gambling Commission Guidance to Local Authorities which states: ‘The effect of this [s 153 statutory aim to permit] duty is that both the commission and licensing authorities must approach their functions in a way that seeks to regulate gambling by using their powers, for example, powers to attach conditions to licences, to moderate the impact on the licensing objectives rather than by starting out to prevent it altogether,” the LSC said.
It said the committee had “approached its duty with the above considerations front of mind and having carefully considered the matter … determined to grant the application as applied for as it considers that the application meets the above requirements.”
A council planning committee decision in December 2020 that the Brixton Game Nation could operate only between 8am and 10pm, Monday to Saturday, was overturned by the Planning Inspectorate in February 2025 – allowing it to open 24/7.
The LSC said that, in its consideration of the Admiral application, it was “sympathetic to the concerns raised by the interested parties in relation to the location of this premises and its proximity to both a drug treatment centre and housing for those at risk of homelessness and mental health issues.
“The LSC also accepted the concerns raised in respect to anti-social behaviour and drug-taking throughout the town centre and the area’s overall gambling risk and vulnerability profile (including unseen vulnerabilities and how those matters may extend into other areas of the borough). All of these matters weighed heavily on the LSC’s decision-making process.
“However, the LSC noted and had due regard to the measures proposed by the applicant to protect children and vulnerable persons both in relation to this specific premises and its other operations.”
The committee said it was persuaded, on balance, that, subject to an additional condition, the applicant’s conditions, policies, procedures, training programmes and proposed security measures “sufficiently ameliorated or addressed the concerns raised and that refusal of the application was neither necessary or proportionate”.
The condition the LSC imposed “in light of … concerns raised about the risk of unseen vulnerabilities” to harm from gambling, is that all staff employed on the Admiral premises shall receive specific training on vulnerability recognition and intervention every quarter.
The LSC also encouraged Admiral to “undertake meaningful engagement” with:
- Local hostels, mental health service providers, and the nearby drug treatment centre (Lorraine Hewitt House) to share information and develop referral pathways for vulnerable individuals;
- The Business Improvement District (BID) and the local Safer Neighbourhood Panel (including regular attendance/participation at meetings convened by these bodies).
Culture secretary Lisa Nandy, the minister responsible for gambling, said recently that “gambling brings joy to millions” but that some people “can have their lives ruined by it”.
Gambling Commission statistics show that 1.4 million UK adults are problem gamblers and that millions more are at risk of becoming addicted.
