Burnham Targets Vape Shops And Bookies In Sweeping High-Street Crackdown

Vape Shops, Bookies And ‘Dodgy’ Businesses Face Burnham Crackdown

Burnham Tears Up Blair-Era Gambling Rule In High-Street Revolt

Andy Burnham is preparing to hand councils sweeping new powers to block vape shops, betting outlets and adult gaming centres from Britain’s struggling high streets. The plan would dismantle a central part of the gambling settlement introduced under Tony Blair and give local communities a greater say over what opens in their town centres.

New vape shops would require planning permission, councils would gain more freedom to reject gambling premises and closure orders against businesses suspected of links to organised crime could last twice as long. Ministers want the first measures operating from the beginning of 2027 following a fast-tracked six-week consultation.

Councils Would Gain The Power To Say No

The most consequential proposal is Burnham’s promise to scrap the Gambling Act’s “aim to permit” rule. Section 153 of the 2005 Act currently tells licensing authorities to aim to permit gambling premises when applications comply with the relevant rules, licensing objectives and local policy.

Councils can consider concerns connected to crime, disorder, fairness and the protection of children or vulnerable people. They cannot simply reject an application because residents believe an area already has enough gambling venues or because they dislike gambling.

The government now intends to move beyond previously approved gambling impact assessments, which allow councils to consider the cumulative effect of multiple premises but still require individual applications to be assessed. Removing the underlying presumption would represent a much clearer transfer of power from operators to local authorities.

It would also reverse part of the gambling liberalisation enacted by a Labour government in which Burnham served as a minister. That gives the policy an added political edge: the new Prime Minister is presenting himself as the Labour leader willing to undo an unpopular legacy of the Blair era.

Vape Shops Would Face A New Planning Barrier

Specialist vape shops can currently operate under the broad planning category covering many ordinary shops and services. This can allow a unit to become a vape retailer without a fresh planning application, leaving councils with little opportunity to consider the concentration or location of such businesses.

Burnham’s plan would place new vape shops under tighter planning control. The legal definition of a vape shop would also be strengthened to prevent businesses avoiding the rules by describing themselves as convenience stores while primarily selling vaping products.

Ministers are considering specific protection around schools. The eventual detail will matter, including how a predominantly vape-selling business is defined and whether restrictions apply only to new premises or also affect significant changes at existing shops.

The concern is not spread evenly across England. Research published in 2025 found that the most deprived communities had more than three times as many vape shops as the least deprived areas. The same research found a similar imbalance in the distribution of bookmakers, turning the debate into one about deprivation and public health as well as appearance.

Suspect Businesses Could Be Closed For Longer

The package extends beyond planning law. Police and local authorities would be able to obtain closure orders lasting up to 12 months against premises suspected of links to organised crime, doubling the current six-month maximum.

That change is aimed at businesses which may provide cover for criminal activity, including some barbers, nail salons and vape shops. The additional time would allow investigators to examine ownership, finances, employment practices and supply chains while preventing a suspect premises from continuing to trade.

Legitimate businesses should not automatically be grouped with criminal operators. A licensed bookmaker, a compliant vape retailer and a premises suspected of money laundering present very different legal and regulatory questions. The government will need to keep that distinction clear if the crackdown is to command confidence rather than become a broad attack on unpopular-looking businesses.

Shopfront appearance will form another part of the strategy. Councils are expected to receive guidance addressing oversized branding, harsh neon signage and neglected façades, although national guidance alone will not provide the investment needed to renovate buildings or attract new tenants.

Burnham Is Targeting A Visible Symbol Of Decline

The political appeal is easy to understand. Empty banks, lost pubs, shuttered department stores and rows of interchangeable vape, gambling and beauty businesses have become visible evidence of economic decline in many towns.

Britain lost nearly 1,800 pubs and bars between 2016 and 2026, according to an analysis of official business counts. Over the same period, the combined number of registered vape and tobacco shops increased to almost 2,200.

Those figures do not prove that vape shops caused pubs to close. They show how the businesses capable of surviving on weakened high streets have changed as consumer spending moved online and traditional operators faced higher costs, altered habits and declining footfall.

That exposes the central limit of Burnham’s policy. Councils may soon be able to stop an unwanted shop from filling an empty unit, but they cannot force a bank, butcher, pub or independent retailer to take its place. Without stronger demand, affordable rents, competitive business rates and sustained local investment, greater control could sometimes produce a vacant shop instead of a better one.

The Crackdown Could Still Mark A Major Shift

The government is betting that visible local change will prove more valuable than another distant regeneration promise. Allowing residents and councils to influence the composition of their own high streets is a tangible use of power, particularly in deprived communities that have carried a disproportionate share of gambling and vaping premises.

The final legislation must establish how far councils can go, what evidence they will need and how businesses can challenge a refusal. Ministers must also decide how the new rules interact with gambling impact assessments already approved by Parliament.

Burnham’s crackdown will not reverse decades of retail decline by itself. It could, however, end a system in which councils are expected to approve premises that local communities believe are already overrepresented—and make Westminster answer a harder question about what should replace them.