Agenda and minutes

Moved by Councillor David Bennett and seconded by Councillor Mary Dooley

RESOLVED that Councillor Anne Clarke be elected as Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Anne Clarke in the Chair

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors Amanda Davis, Lisa Powell, Jeanne Raspin and Ashley Taylor.

To note any urgent items of business which the Chairman has consented to being considered under the provisions of Section 100(B) 4(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no urgent items of business to be considered.

Members should declare the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and Non Statutory Interest as defined by the Members’ Code of Conduct in respect of:

a)  any business on the agenda

b)  any urgent additional items to be considered

c)  any matters arising out of those items

and if appropriate, withdraw from the meeting at the relevant time.

There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

To consider the minutes of the last Licensing & Gambling Acts Committee meeting held on 29^th April 2025.

It was noted the year of the minutes on the agenda page was incorrect.

Moved by Councillor Mary Dooley and Seconded by Councillor Rita Turner

RESOLVED that the minutes of a Licensing & Gambling Acts Committee held on 29^th April 2024 be approved as a true and correct record.

The Environmental Health Team Manager presented the report to the Committee.

Under The Gambling Act 2005 (the ‘Act’), the Council was responsible for issuing premises licences for casinos, bingo halls, betting offices, adult gaming centres and licensed family entertainment centres as well as permits for gaming machines in pubs, clubs and other alcohol licensed premises.

The Act contained three licensing objectives:

·       prevent gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder, or being used to support crime;

·       ensure gambling was conducted in a fair and open way; and,

·       protect children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

The Act imposed a statutory requirement upon the Council to prepare a Statement of Principles (alternatively referred to as a ‘Policy’).  This was the Council’s tool in regulating gambling and it established a set of controls which the Council considered appropriate for the effective management of gambling activities within the District.

The Policy acted as a guide for Members, applicants, responsible authorities, and members of the public.  It aimed to promote fair, consistent, and proportionate decision making.

The Act required the Council to review and publish its Policy every 3 years.  The Council was required to publish its revised Policy at least 4 weeks before the Policy expired.

The current Policy, together with a Local Area Profile (the ‘Profile’), came into effect 15^th February 2023.  To meet the requirements of the legislation the Council had to approve an updated Statement of Principles.

The Joint Environmental Health Service, shared with North East Derbyshire District Council, had conducted a review of the existing Policy and identified a number of changes required.  The draft proposals aimed to achieve the following:

·       Modify the format of the Policy to ensure it remained cohesive and consistent with that of neighbouring local authorities (due to the extensive changes made to the Policy’s formatting, a copy with tracked changes was not included – it was found to be illegible);

·       Ensure the Policy was consistent with legislation and statutory guidance;

·       Increase the clarity of the Policy;

·       Update local demographics; and,

·       Provide clarity on delegations.

The fundamental principles of the Policy remained the same, but upon review it was felt the Policy would benefit from being restructured and reformatted, with some of the content clarified.

As part of the review, research had been conducted to establish if there were any emerging trends or areas of concern in the District that needed to be addressed in the Policy.

The current Policy and Profile were attached at Appendices 1 and 2.  The revised draft Policy and Profile were attached at Appendices 3 and 4.  An equality impact assessment had been carried out and a draft copy was attached at Appendix 5.

On 8^th April 2025, the revised draft Policy was reviewed by the Climate Change and Communities Scrutiny Committee.  The Committee reviewed the revised draft Statement

of Principles and noted the intention to carry out a public consultation before presenting a final  ...  view the full minutes text for item LGAC6-24/25