Issue - meetings

[Report of the Director for Environment and Neighbourhoods. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Civic Services.]

The Gambling Act 2005 requires the Licensing authority to review and adopt its policy every 3 years under section 349 of the legislation. The report will seek agreement to consult on the policy  which will be for adoption by full Council in March 2019.

The Cabinet Member for Civic Services introduced this report which sought authorisation to take the draft Council’s Statement of Gambling Policy to public consultation. It was a requirement by law to review this policy every three years. The current policy was adopted in January 2016 and was therefore due for review, to be published in March 2019. Following consultation, a further report would be presented to the Cabinet on 22^nd January 2019 with the results of that consultation and would be seeking approval to the draft Statement of Gambling Policy at Full Council in March 2019. The Cabinet Member noted that officers were not able to deviate from the national position on gambling, where laws were imposed at a national level. The Cabinet Member welcomed the consultation which requested gambling operators to consider carefully where they were located, and to ensure they were consistent with the licensing objectives.

Questions were asked by Cllr Barnes and Cllr Ibrahim and the following was noted:

·         The Cabinet Member confirmed that she had not personally had discussions with the gambling operators. Officers confirmed they would individually contact betting shops if there were particular issues with fixed odd betting terminals.

• Officers advised that, within the report, there was a local area profile which stated the crime figures for 2017, broken down by ward and betting shops. It also showed the high risk areas, which were situated in the east of the borough. 

• Officers informed there was an active Bet Watch group which was chaired by the Licensing Officer and Metropolitan Police. It was well attended by the main gambling operators and one of its purposes was to promote compliance with the licensing objectives.

• The government had previously  indicated there would be a 2 year delay in its implementation of the legislation on fixed odd betting terminals but once implemented this would further require the policy to be updated.

RESOLVED

To approve the draft Gambling Act 2005 Statement of Gambling Policy 2019-2022 for public consultation and instructs officers to carry out the consultation over a 10 week period.

Reasons for decision

To comply with the requirements of the Gambling Act 2005 the Council must prepare and consult on a statement of gambling policy for the period 2019-2022.

To obtain the views of interested parties on the proposed statement of gambling policy and use these views to formulate any changes to the policy.

Alternative options considered

No alternatives were considered. It is a statutory requirement that the policy be reviewed at least every three years, and that a public consultation is carried out. If the Council did not have a policy it would be acting ultra vires with regards to any decisions it makes when determining gambling premises licences.

The Gambling Commission has laid down requirements which the Council must follow with regards to the Gambling Policy. If they are not followed the Council could face risk of judicial challenge. The Gambling Commission guidance has been followed in drafting this revised policy.