Agenda item

The Licensing Committee were asked to consider a report which presented a draft revised Statement of Principles under the Gambling Act 2005.

The Senior Practitioner (Licensing) (‘SPL’), Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) introduced this item and explained the statutory requirement for Local Authorities to renew their Statement of Principles every 3 years.

The SPL stated that the Council’s existing Statement of Principles had come into force on 31^st January 2016 and would expire on 31^st January 2019. The revised draft Statement of Principles had been prepared for the purpose of consultation with relevant parties.  Following consultation the revised draft Statement would need to be approved by Council to come into force by 31^st January 2019.

The SPL explained that the revised draft Statement of Principles took into account changes to the Gambling Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice.

The SPL referred the Members to the revised draft Statement of Principles at Appendix 1 of the report, on which the changes had been marked in red, and in doing so highlighted that the main changes that had been made were:-

·         The inclusion of a new section that set out information about the Gambling Commission and its responsibilities;

·         The inclusion of a new section on the links between Public Health and gambling related harm;

·         More detail regarding regulation by the Council of gambling in clubs and alcohol licensed premises;

·         The inclusion of new sections in relation to Unlicensed Family Entertainment Centre Permits and Prize Gaming Permits;

·         More detail regarding the role and responsibilities of the Council in relation to Small Society Lotteries.

·         Changes to the section on Local Area Profile to reflect the fact that the Local Area Profile will have been introduced by January 2019.

The SPL confirmed that consultation on the revised draft Statement of Principles would take place with West Mercia Police, the Gambling Commission, responsible authorities identified under the Act, trade associations, Public Health, organisations working with people who are problem gamblers, Parish Councils and the general public.

The consultation would be advertised in the local press and via social media and would last for 10 to 12 weeks.  A further report would be brought back to Licensing Committee to notify members of the outcome of the consultation.

The SPL responded to Members questions and clarified the position that no licence is required for the playing of bingo in residential settings and that such activity is acceptable provided that it is conducted in compliance with the relevant rules. As such the Statement of Principles under the Gambling Act would not be directly relevant to this type of activity.

Members noted the additional wording that had been included in the Statement to cover public health issues and the link to gambling related harm, and welcomed the inclusion of this extra information.

Members requested that the SPL amend a small number of factual inaccuracies in the document including the reference to the population of Redditch as being the smallest in Worcestershire on page 15 and some of the district names included on the map on page 46.

Subject to those minor amendments, Members approved for the purpose of consultation the revised draft Statement of Principles.

RESOLVED that

the revised draft Statement of Principles at Appendix 1 to the report be approved for the purpose of consultation with the relevant parties.