Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors Lisa Powell and Emma Stevenson.

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 30^th April 2025.

Moved by Councillor David Bennett and Seconded by Councillor Will Fletcher

RESOLVED that the minutes of a Licensing & Gambling Acts Committee held on 30^th April 2025 be approved as a true and correct record.

The Policy and Performance Officer 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 3 licensing objectives the Council had to regard when acting in its capacity.  These 3 objectives were:

·       preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or 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.

The Act imposed a statutory requirement upon the Council to prepare a Statement of Principles (alternatively referred to as the ‘Policy’), and the Act additionally required the Council to review and publish its Policy every 3 years.

The Joint Environmental Health Service had conducted an initial review of the Policy and research into gambling related harm and crime in the District.  This has resulted in the following proposed amendments:

·       Modify the format of the Policy to ensure it remained cohesive and consistent with that of neighbouring local authorities;

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

·       Increase the clarity of the Policy;

·       Update local demographics; and,

·       Provide clarity on delegations.

Following consideration of the draft Policy by the Committee and the Climate Change and Change and Communities Scrutiny, a 12-week public consultation had been held between 2^nd June 2025 and 24^th August 2025.

The consultation had been published via the Ask Derbyshire website and publicised through the Council’s website and social media platforms.  Stakeholders had also been contacted directly via email.  A full list of stakeholder consultees was included at Appendix 1.

The Council had received 2 responses to the consultation:

·       Derbyshire Constabulary attached at Appendix 2; and,

·       Public Health attached at Appendix 3.

Public Health had requested the Policy be translated into different languages (dependent upon population within the District).  The Licensing Team had carefully considered the content of Public Health’s request and felt the requirement for translation was adequately covered in the Policy’s introductory section (as it was the case with current existing policies, where a translation service was offered on request).

The overall lack of responses indicated an indifference to the proposed changes to the Policy and that the updated Policy was fit for purpose.  A copy of the Draft Statement of Principles, subject of the consultation, was attached at Appendix 4.

The Draft Local Area Profile was attached at Appendix 5.

The Environmental Health Team Manager informed the Policy had been a collaborative effort across the team.

To a question on any significant changes to note, the Environmental Health Team Manager informed the main changes had been regards formatting and improved / simplified descriptions.

To a question on the use of only metric measurements to quantify the geographical size of  ...  view the full minutes text for item LGAC5-25/26