THE implementation of the new gambling laws will be mired in the same “chaos and confusion” as 24-hour pub opening unless it is delayed for six months, ministers have been told.

Council officials have warned the Government that the timetable to license 30,000 casinos, racecourses, bookies and bingo halls is so tight that they will not be able to train staff or set up essential IT in time.

As detailed guidance on the laws will not be published until November, councils will have just eight weeks, including the Christmas and new year break, to prepare before they must start processing applications on January 31.

On Thursday council representatives will meet Richard Caborn, the Sports Minister, to ask for the guidance to be brought forward or the implementation date delayed from September 2007 to April 2008.

The issue will also be raised at the Local Government Association’s annual conference in Bournemouth this week.

The Local Authorities Co- ordinators of Regulatory Services (Lacors) has written to Mr Caborn setting out its complaints. It said that because the guidance had not yet been issued councils could not start to prepare policy statements.

Geoffrey Theobald, its chairman, told The Times that officials were asking for guidance.

“At the moment we are having to second-guess what the Government and the Gambling Commission are going to do, based on informal discussions and draft documents,” Mr Theobald said. “Councils are in the dark and are unable to put in place coherent policies because guidance and regulations from the Government haven’t been forthcoming. It also makes it difficult to provide local businesses and people with clear advice.”

Seventeen casinos are being built — eight large ones, eight smaller ones and a supercasino. But 40 extra casinos were licensed last April and councils will also be responsible for relicensing the 140 existing casinos. In addition they have taken over responsibility from magistrates’ courts for licensing 969 bingo halls, 8,800 betting offices, 1,760 arcades, 19,000 private members’ clubs and 60 racecourses.

Most gambling establishments will need a gaming licence from the Gambling Commission and council licence for their premises.

Lacors said that the problems were similar to those that appeared when 24-hour pub opening was introduced. The tight timetable and late guidance meant that thousands of applications had to be processed in August. Staff had to work long hours and there was inadequate public consultation. The subsequent delays meant that many pubs did not have licences when the Act was implemented late last year. Two reports — from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Better Regulation Executive — criticised the timeframe.

Mr Theobald said: “Unless the implementation is delayed, there will be confusion for councils, business and local people. It’s worrying that we find ourselves in the same situation with gambling as we did with licensing. It seems that the Government simply hasn’t learnt the lessons despite two reports warning of just this.”

Although councils would not have to deal with as many applications this time, the gambling licences would be significantly more complicated, he said.

A spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said that councils had been given plenty of time.

“When the Act is implemented, it will be over two years since the Act was passed by Parliament in April 2005,” a spokesman said. “The Gambling Act meets the challenges posed by new technology as well as introducing vital protections for children, vulnerable people and those who gamble generally. That’s why it needs to be implemented as quickly as possible.”

He said that councils would have to issue guidance for only 13,000 premises — excluding private members’ clubs — compared with nearly 200,000 under the Licensing Act, and the Gambling Commission would offer advice. “Richard Caborn has agreed to meet Lacors next week. We will listen carefully to what they have to say,” he added.

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