Agenda and draft minutes

To receive apologies for absence and notification of substitutes (if any).

There were apologies from Councillors Michael Brookes, Judith Skinner and Jonathan Noble.

(A report by Fiona White, Principal Licensing and Land Charges Officer)

The Principle Licensing and Land Charges Officer presented a report on the Gambling Act 2005 – Statement of Principles.

Under the Gambling Act 2005 (the Act), The Licensing Authority was required, every three years, to consult on, adopt and publish a Statement of Principles setting out its policy for administering and enforcing licences, registrations and permits in accordance with the Act.

A revised Statement of Principles was required, by law, to be published by January 2019.

The administration and enforcement of licensing of gambling premises and activities was prescribed in legislation and the Statement of Principles was based on guidance provided by the Gambling Commission.   The Council could not adopt any local policy that would be inconsistent with the requirements of the Act.

Since the Act came into force in 2006 the administration and enforcement of gambling licensing in Boston had operated effectively and the Statement of Principles had previously and was currently considered to be fit for purpose.  It was therefore considered that no major changes were required to the existing statement. 

The draft Statement of Principles was attached at Appendix A for Members’ consideration.  Proposed changes to the existing Statement of Principles were highlighted yellow. 

The Committee was requested to approve the draft Statement of Principles, including any amendments considered appropriate by the Committee, and resolve that the draft be consulted on in accordance with the requirements of the Gambling Act 2005.  Following consultation, a schedule of responses would be brought back to the Committee for consideration and a recommendation would be made that the final draft be approved and then referred to Full Council for adoption.

In response to questions, the Principal Licensing and Land Charges Officer explained that the statement’s introduction was the Council’s own wording; it would be similar to many other local authorities, though some might differ.  Examples of good practice had been examined and the wording throughout the draft was based on these and the Council’s own views, with some wording being lifted directly from the Gambling Commission’s own code of practice.

The amendments, some of which were minor, had been made in order to simplify and clarify the wording of the statement and to update information, such as the demographic of the area, and to demonstrate that other legislation, e.g. the Human Rights Act, was being taken into account, so protecting the Council from challenge.  Some wording had been added, such as a new section on Local Risk Assessment.  In some parts wording had been deleted, such as where different examples or scenarios had been listed, in order to make the statement less prescriptive and broaden its approach.  The result was that the statement would be streamlined and its impact widened. 

A Member expressed the view that it would have been helpful to have the previous statement included in the agenda pack in order to more easily understand the changes and ensure the draft statement fully covered the whole of the previous statement. 

Others commented that they had compared the draft  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.