Annexe 2
Letter from the Horserace Betting LevyBoard
to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)—29
October 2004
BOOKMAKERS' PITCHES
Further to our telephone conversation yesterday,
I am writing to clarify the legal background, as we understand
it, on this subject.
— Under the terms of Section 13,
Betting Gaming and Lotteries Act 1963, as modified by Section
5, Horse Race Totalisator and Betting Levy Boards Act 1972, the
Levy Board may issue, or revoke, Certificates of Approval of a
racecourse specifying the areas where betting may take place.
These Certificates may be subject to such conditions as the Board
may impose.
— In 1998, the Board revoked all
its Certificates of Approval relative to the 59 racecourses and
issued each of them with a new Certificate of Approval. Each of
the new Certificates were subject to conditions which included
provision that the racecourse betting areas should be administered
by the National Joint Pitch Council (NJPC), in accordance with
the National Pitch Rules, as approved by the Board.
— A copy of a Certificate of Approval
is enclosed.
— The National Pitch Rules set
out the basis upon which new Bookmakers' Lists would be created
by the NJPC. These Lists, which ranked bookmakers in order of
their seniority, represented the basis upon which bookmakers attending
each racecourse meeting would be allowed to pick the position
in the betting ring (the pitch) on which they wished to stand.
— The concept of creating new
Bookmakers' Lists of seniority order, as a basis for picking positions
in the ring each day, was created, following legal advice, to
ensure that no bookmaker could claim security of tenure over a
particular pitch position on a racecourse. The Racecourse Association
was insistent upon this.
— The National Association of
Bookmakers undertook a Judicial Review action in the High Court
with a view to establishing that the Board did not have the power
to introduce these new arrangements. However, their action failed
and the Court confirmed that the Board did have the necessary
power.
— It is our view, therefore, that
bookmakers have no security of tenure over anything. All they
have is their seniority positions on the various Bookmakers' Lists
as a basis for choosing their daily standing positions while the
current Certificates of Approval remain in place. As and when
the Board's Certificates of Approval are revoked, the related
conditions, incorporating the National Pitch Rules, will cease
to exist and will, no doubt, be replaced on the following day
by new arrangements to be determined by the Gambling Commission.
— Also in 1998, as part of the
ring modernisation arrangements, the Board introduced the auctioning
system whereby bookmakers were entitled to auction, or sell by
private treaty, their seniority positions. Bookmakers should be
aware that such purchases and sales are subject to the limitations
of the National Pitch Rules, which may be revoked by the Board.
— However, it is my understanding
that, in order to ensure that all bookmakers gained full value
of any seniority positions they may have purchased through the
auction or private treaty procedures of the NJPC, it was agreed
that the Gambling Bill should provide that the five times entry
fee limitation should be maintained for a further five years,
before racecourses were free to charge bookmakers for entry on
whatever alternative basis they choose.
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