Agenda and minutes

To elect a Councillor from the Sub-Committee to act as Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Witherspoon was elected to be the Chair for the meeting.

The Chair opened the Hearing and introduced the Members of the Sub-Committee and Officers present.  At the request of the Chair all other parties present introduced themselves.

No apologies for absence were received.

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests and / or Other Disclosable Interest they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Applicant has provided the additional information attached in support of the application:-

Statement of Gavin Dalzell, National Licensing Manager for Ladbrokes Betting and Gaming Limited dated 23 April 2018.

The Sub-Committee were asked to consider an application for an Adult Gaming Centre Premises Licence in respect of premises at 8-10 Unicorn Hill, Redditch, Worcestershire, B97 4QU.

The application had been made by Ladbrokes Betting and Gaming Limited, the owners of the site.  At the date of the hearing the premises which had previously been operated as a Coral Licensed Betting office were not in use. Planning permission for change of use to an Adult Gaming Centre had been granted on 15 February 2018.

The application had been referred for a hearing before the Sub-Committee in light of a representation made by Power Leisure Bookmakers Limited, the owners of a Betting Premises Licence located at 1-2 Market Place, Redditch.  Members were asked to note that although the representation had been made, confirmation had been received on 9^th May that neither Power Leisure Bookmakers Limited nor their legal representative would be attending the hearing.  Members confirmed that they had read the email sent by the solicitors for Power Leisure Bookmakers Limited dated 9^th May 2018 which asked for the representations to be considered by the Sub-Committee.

The Senior Practitioner (Licensing), Worcestershire introduced the report and in doing so explained that an Adult Gaming Centre Premises Licence would enable the holder to make gaming machines available for use within an adult gaming centre.  The licence would allow the holder to make available gaming machines in the categories of B3, B4, C and D.  Under an Adult Gaming Centre Licence, a maximum of 20% of the total number of gaming machines would be permitted to be from categories B3 and B4, with no limit from the on the number of category C or D machines.

The Senior Practitioner (Licensing) confirmed that it would be an offence to allow a child to enter an adult gaming centre and therefore the application related to an adult only venue.

The Senior Practitioner (Licensing) further confirmed to Members:-

·         That all the applicable documentation had been provided by the applicant;

·         That the application had been advertised in accordance with the statutory requirements, and that all responsible authorities had been notified;

·         That none of the responsible authorities had submitted any representations;

·         That the applicant had already been granted the necessary operating licence to use the premises for gaming machines by the national regulator, the Gambling Commission.

The Senior Practitioner (Licensing) confirmed that one representation had been received, from Power Leisure Bookmakers Limited (as referred to above), and that the representation raised concerns about two of the licensing objectives, namely:-

·         The prevention of gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime;

·         The protection of children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

The Senior Practitioner(Licensing) advised Members that in making their decision they would need to have regard to the Councils Statement of Principles under the Gambling Act, the provisions of section 153 of the Gambling Act 2005,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.