Meeting documents

To approve the minutes of the Licensing Committee meetings held on 24 January and 16 May 2018.

The minutes of the Licensing Committee held on 24 January 2018 and 16 May 2018 were approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record. 

There were no declarations of interest.

The Committee considered the outcome of the consultation on the revised draft Licensing Act 2003 Policy Statement ("the draft policy") and discussed the responses received.   It was noted that the Council had a statutory responsibility to review the Licensing Policy at least every 5 years and this would require adoption of the draft policy at Council on 14 November 2018 in order for the approved policy to come into effect from 10 December 2018.

Having considered the responses to the consultation, Councillor Pepler proposed that the draft policy with modifications as attached at Appendix 1 be recommended for adoption by Council on 14 November 2018 with effect from 10 December 2018. This proposal was seconded by Councillor Jordan and agreed at a vote.

Note:  Councillor R Sangster entered the meeting at 6.05 pm during the above item and did not take part in the debate or vote.

Members considered the revised draft Gambling Act 2005 Statement of Principles attached at Appendix 1 which had the proposed changes shown in red.  It was noted that a consultation period of 6 weeks was recommended by the Gambling Commission guidance and a revised Statement of Principles was required to be in place by 21 January 2019. 

It was noted that there were only minor amendments being recommended since the last review and the Committee considered the more notable recommended changes as set out in the report. These included a change in the wording to allow the Head of Healthy Communities in consultation with the Chairman of the Licensing Committee to make minor amendments to the Statement of Principles including those related to legislation to make such amendments quicker and more straightforward.

With regard to the Casino Resolution made under Section 166 of the Act, it was noted that the Government had already issued the 17 permitted licences available under the Act and therefore there was no necessity to resolve not to issue casino premises licences in the District. 

Members also considered that there was a trend currently for online betting rather than for betting premises and it was thought unlikely that there would be applications for more than the current 7 gambling licenced premises in the district.

The local area profile shown in Appendix 2 was intended to be a standalone document and would not need to go through the full review process in future.  It had been recommended as part of the Gambling Commission guidance but was not a statutory requirement.

The officer recommendations set out in the report were put to the Committee by the Chairman and agreed at a vote.