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Agenda item
Gambling Act 2005 - Review of Statement of Licensing Policy.
Minutes:
Lee Morgan (Licensing
Manager) presented the report, which informed Members of the result of
consultation carried out to review the Statement of Gambling Licensing Policy, and
sought the views of Members prior to its presentation to Council on 26th
January 2022.
Members were advised that in accordance with
the Gambling Act 2005, the Licensing Authorities must prepare, consult upon and
approve a Statement of Gambling Licensing Policy that must be reviewed every
three years. The current Policy was approved by Council and published in
January 2019. The policy must contain
objectives regarding the prevention of gambling from being a source of crime or
disorder, being associated with crime and disorder or being used to support
crime, ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way, and
protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited
by gambling.
It was noted that the Policy has been reviewed
and a consultation exercise undertaken with relevant bodies (for example the Police and the Gambling Commission), individuals, residents and businesses throughout the borough between
8th October 2021 and 8th November 2021.
Members were advised that 2 responses
were received during the consultation period, which were summarised in Section
5.5 of the report. The first response
was from Gamble Aware, who acknowledged receipt of consultation and the ability
to comment on the Council’s policy. Within their response, they encouraged
local authorities to signpost people to the National Gambling helpline and its
website in relation to offering support as part of the National Gambling
Service. As a result of this feedback, the contact details for Gamble Aware
will be added to the information section within the updated Statement of
Gambling Licensing Policy. The second response was received anonymously
from a resident which stated that “Too many licenses granted for too many
events with insufficient staff to check and monitor”. However, no other information was
provided in order to clarify the context of the comments and so Licensing
Officers are unable to explore this response further.
The Licensing Manager also
outlined the main amendments proposed for the Policy which were reflected as
track changes in the revised Statement of Gambling Licensing Policy (attached
as Appendix 1 to the report). The main body of the policy remains generally
unchanged, apart from updated contact details for Responsible Authorities and
revised dates for consultation, publication etc. The main change relates to Annex 7
(Mandatory, Default and Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Pool of Model
Conditions for Gambling Premises Licences).
Previous versions of the policy included the mandatory and default
conditions but not the Caerphilly CBC Pool of Model conditions. The
pool of model conditions will assist gambling operators, responsible
authorities and interested parties when considering conditions to deal with
specific issues and concerns. These
conditions will also encourage a consistent approach to the drafting and
imposition of conditions on premises licences.
The Committee were advised
that the existing Statement has been effective and continues to achieve its
aims. Officers are aware that UK
Government are undertaking a review of the effectiveness of the Gambling Act
2005 and a White Paper is expected before the end of the year which may lead to
legislative changes. This may require a more comprehensive review of the statement
of Licensing Policy in the near future. Officers will continue to monitor the
UK Government review of the Gambling Act 2005 and if required address any
legislative changes brought about from any review.
The Committee were
therefore asked to endorse the revised Statement of Gambling Licensing Policy
appended to the report and offer any comment prior to its presentation to full
Council for approval in January 2022.
During the course of the ensuing debate, a Member sought
clarification on the anonymous consultation response and asked if Licensing had
enough staff to be able to deal with the number of one-off licences
issued. The Licensing Manager explained
that he believed the consultation response to be commenting on licences for
alcohol and entertainment rather than gambling, and gave assurances that the
Licensing department has sufficient capacity to investigate every complaint
received in relation to licensed premises. The Member also referred to
monitoring around Temporary Event Notice applications and Mr Morgan provided a
brief overview of how Licensing examine the suitability of each application on
a case by case basis.
A Member referred to page 66 of the revised Statement in relation to
CCTV and asked whether the recordings are required to be of a certain quality
and if Licensing undertake inspections to ensure gambling premises are
complying with this requirement. The
Licensing Manager confirmed that if there is cause to inspect the premises and
the quality of CCTV is found to be poor, this would be brought to the attention
of the license holder for improvements to be made. However, Licensing are confident that the
quality of recordings are generally improving across licensed premises, as it
is in the best interests of businesses to have clear CCTV images in order to
identify any perpetrators.
A Member asked if the low
response rate was normal and how the consultation had been advertised. It was confirmed that Licensing had written
to all existing gambling and alcohol licence holders, together with Responsible
Authorities and various bodies such as the Gambling Commission. Wider consultation had been carried out with
the public through the Council’s website which was advertised by the
Communications Team. It was noted that
all Councillors had also been consulted on the proposed changes through email.
One Member also asked if
gambling premises are displaying signage in relation to agencies offering
support with gambling addiction (such as Gamble Aware). Mr Morgan confirmed that he believed this to
be common practice across premises but confirmed that Licensing would look into
surveying a random sample of premises to check whether they are advertising
these types of support networks.
The Licensing and Gambling
Committee thanked Officers for the detailed report, and following consideration
of the report, it was moved and seconded that the report be accepted and the
following recommendation be forwarded to Council for approval. By way of Microsoft Forms (and in noting
there were 8 for, 0 against and 0 abstentions) this was unanimously agreed.
RECOMMENDED that the revised Policy
as appended to the report be submitted to Full Council for approval on 26th
January 2022.
The Chair wished all in
attendance a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and the meeting closed at 10.26 a.m.
Supporting documents:
- Gambling Act 2005 - Review of Statement of Licensing Policy, item 3. PDF 308 KB
- Appendix 1, item 3. PDF 735 KB
- Appendix 2, item 3. PDF 920 KB