Issue - meetings

Councillors noted that the Gambling Act 2005 required the Council, as licensing authority, to prepare and publish a Statement of Principles every three years. The existing Statement of Principles had been published in January 2019 and was due for renewal by January 2022. 

The Council considered a report on the proposed adoption of the Statement of Principles covering 2022-25.

The Licensing Committee had approved an updated draft Statement of Principles, with no material changes proposed, for public consultation on 26 May 2021.  Following the consultation, three responses had been received details of which were included in the report. 

This matter had been considered by the Licensing Committee at its meeting on 24 November 2021.  The Committee had endorsed the recommendation in the report to adopt the Statement.

Upon the motion of the Lead Councillor for Environment, Councillor James Steel, seconded by the Chairman of the Licensing Committee, Councillor David Goodwin, the Council

RESOLVED: That the draft Gambling Act 2005 Statement of Principles 2022-25, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report submitted to the Council, be approved.  

Reason:

To comply with the requirements of the Gambling Act 2005 the Council must prepare, consult on, and approve a statement of principles for the period 2022-25.

The Committee received a report from Chris Woodhatch, Licensing Food and Safety Lead.  The Committee noted that the current statement was due to expire and an updated draft was approved for public consultation by the Licensing Committee on 26 May 2021.  The consultation was held between 5 July – 1 October 2021 and no material comments were made. 

The Committee having considered the report;

RESOLVED to recommend that Full Council approved the draft Gambling Act 2005 Statement of Principles 2022-25 at its meeting on 7 December 2021.

The Committee is asked to approve the draft Gambling Act 2005 Statement of Principles 2022-25 for public consultation and instructs officers to carry out the consultation over a 12-week period.

The Committee noted that the Gambling Act 2005 required the Council as licensing authority to prepare and publish a Statement of Principles every three years.  The existing Statement of Principles was published in January 2019 and was due for renewal by January 2022.  The current statement was comprehensively reviewed in 2018 to reflect updated Guidance published by the Gambling Commission (5^th Edition September 2015) and to include a Local Area Profile for Guildford.  There had not been any further update in Guidance from the Commission since the publication.  As such, there were no changes proposed to the current policy.  The Committee was therefore asked to approve the Gambling Act 2005: Statement of Principles for consultation for a 12-week period after which it would be considered by the Licensing Committee for approval later this year. 

The Committee discussed the Statement of Principles and asked whether it included gaming activities.  The Senior Specialist for Licensing and Community Safety confirmed that betting shops, casinos, bingo halls were all covered under the Act, but Guildford did not have any casinos or bingo halls.  The Committee was interested to know if the Act covered the regulation of children using online gaming sites that were age prohibited.  It was confirmed that the regulation of online gaming sites fell under the remit of the Gambling Commission and was not something controlled by the Licensing Authority.

The Committee queried what sort of training staff had in gambling venues to detect potentially vulnerable or under-age people using the machines.  Did the Licensing Authority enforce that and how was it regulated.  Also, whether conditions could be applied to gambling premises to ensure that fixed odds betting machines were installed which decreased the risk of people losing excessive sums of money. 

The Senior Specialist for Licensing and Community Safety confirmed that under the Gambling Act when setting up a betting premises, before applying for a licence for the premises, an operator’s licence needed to be applied for with the Gambling Commission.  They had the responsibility to ensure that operators were deemed fit to adhere to the appropriate safeguarding measures.  Reports from the Gambling Commission had identified cases where operators had failed to abide by the safeguarding measures and in turn would receive a significant fine.  There were always conditions attached to how betting premises were run as well as being detailed in the policy. The Senior Specialist for Licensing and Community Safety confirmed that he was not aware of any operator whose activities were concerning so to trigger a Test Purchase and that there were only 8-9 betting shops in Guildford in total.  With regard to fixed odds betting machines, the number and type of machines permitted in any one shop was legislated for and ranged from Category A-D type machines. 

The Committee having considered the report:

RESOLVED to approve the draft Gambling Act 2005 Statement of Principles 2022-25 for public consultation and instruct officers to carry out the consultation over a 12-week period.

The Committee is asked to recommend to Full Council the adoption of the Gambling Act 2005 Statement of Principles 2019-2022.

The Licensing Committee received a report on the Gambling Act 2005: Statement of Principles 2019-2022.  The Gambling Act 2005 required the Council as licensing authority to prepare and publish a Statement of Principles every three years.  The existing Statement of Principles was published in January 2016 and was due for renewal by January 2019. 

On the 30 May 2018, the Licensing Committee agreed that a public consultation was held on the draft Statement of Principles over the period June – September 2018.  The Committee noted that following the consultation, a minor change was made to paragraph 26.3, as there was no longer a numerical limit on the number of category B3 machines in Bingo premises.

The Committee having considered the report

RESOLVED   

To recommend to Full Council at its meeting on 4 December 2018 the adoption of the Gambling Act 2005: Statement of Principles 2019-2022.