Report by Public Protection Manager (attached)

The Committee considered a report by the Lead Officer Commercial Regulation (circulated previously) regarding the Review of Gambling Act Statement of Licensing Principles.

The Lead Officer Commercial Regulation highlighted the following:

·         The review of the Gambling Act Statement of Licensing Principles was last discussed at this committee in April 2024.

·         Since then a public consultation had been run over an eight-week period from May to July 2024.

·         13 individuals responded to the consultation and a summary of responses could be seen at Appendix A of this report.

·         82% agreed a No-Casino Resolution should be made (as seen at 4.9 of the report) the various reasons given were listed as:

Ø  Casinos not seen as socially responsible operations;

Ø  Lack of appropriateness to the area;

Ø  The addictive nature of gambling;

Ø  Potential damage to individuals and others;

Ø  A perception that this will not assist the area; and

Ø  Links to increase in crime in areas surrounding a casino.

·         The remaining 18% of respondents did not support a resolution being adopted citing the following:

Ø  Casinos provided a form of adult entertainment that creates an alternative choice and if managed and run correctly could be much more than solely gambling; and

Ø  Each application should be viewed on merit and, if/when permitted; attendance should be a matter of individual choice.

·         There was general support for the proposals in terms of the other questions asked in the consultation which included whether there were any comments on the proposed new sections on ‘Gambling Prevalence and Social Responsibility’ and ‘Gaming in Alcohol Licensed Premises’. No suggestions were made which were believed by officers to generate any further need for amendment to the proposed draft version (as seen at Appendix B of the report).

·         It was worth noting that there were some comments in the consultation such as:

Ø  The number of gambling establishments should be capped at a low number;

Ø  Slot machines should be banned.  They are addictive and harmful to society; and

Ø  Can we ban all gambling advertising as well?

·         The Council was unable to regulate these concerns as they were not within the powers available under the Gambling Act 2005.

·         The revised Statement of Principles focuses on the on-going responsibilities of the licensed premises to proactively uphold the licensing objectives.  The proposed changes for which consultation was undertaken included:

Ø  Insertion of hyperlinks to legislation, and codes of practice – e.g. Social Responsibility Code; Code of Practice for Machines and Pubs, Code of Practice of Equal Chance Gaming.

Ø  Insertion of hyperlinks to categories of machines; the inspection templates used by the Council etc.

Ø  Update to population estimates, demographic information; numbers of gambling premises and permits in the ‘Geographical Area’ Section.

Ø  Addition of new consultees on proposed policy revision.

Ø  Link to the Council’s new Corporate Enforcement Policy.

Ø  New section on ‘Gambling Prevalence and Social Responsibility’, which outlines gambling related harm; the necessity for policies, procedures, and marketing communications to promote/be socially responsible.

Ø  Amendment to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21