Agenda item

To receive, pursuant to Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 a report from the Director of Environment & Street Scene seeking comments on the Council’s draft Gambling Act 2005 Statement of Principles, prior to its release for formal consultation.                        (Report No.)

Licensing Committee is asked to consider dealing with this report as an urgent item in order to enable the draft Statement of Principles to be approved prior to the deadline for its release on formal consultation (17 July 2006).  This will allow the 3-month consultation period to be undertaken in advance of the statutory deadline for approval of the final Statement by full Council (on or before 3 January 2007).

Licensing Committee agreed to receive, pursuant to Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, a report from the Director of Environment & Street Scene (No.74) seeking comments on the Council’s draft Gambling Act 2005 Statement of Principles, prior to its release on formal public consultation.

The report was being dealt with as an urgent item in order to enable the draft Statement of Principles to be considered and approved prior to the deadline for its release on public consultation (17 July 2006).  This would allow a 3-month consultation period in advance of the statutory deadline for approval of the final Statement, required by Council (on or before 3 January 2007).

NOTED

1.      that under the terms of the Gambling Act 2005 (due, at this stage, to be fully implemented in September 2007) the Council, as licensing authority would become responsible for the issue of premises licenses for casinos, bingo halls, betting shops, race tracks and fairs.  In addition the Council would issue permits for amusement arcades, slot machines in pubs & clubs, prize gaming and small lotteries;

2.   gambling operators and gambling personnel would be licensed by the Gambling Commission, with no input from the Council, as Licensing Authority;

3.      the Gambling Act required that the Council, in making decisions about premises licenses, should aim to permit the use of premises for gambling in so far as it thought the decision would:

a.      be in accordance with any relevant Code of Practice or guidance issued by the Gambling Commission;

b.      be reasonably consistent with the Licensing Objectives;

c.      be in accordance with the Council’s Statement of Principles;

4.      the Council, as Licensing Authority, was therefore required to prepare a Statement of Principles that they could apply in exercising their functions under the Gambling Act 2005, which in effect would become the Council’s Gambling Policy;

5.      the draft Statement of Principles for Enfield prepared by the Head of Licensing which, subject to any comments made by the Committee, would be released on a 3-month public consultation prior to submission to Council for formal approval.  The draft contained a number of gaps on which guidance/regulations were still awaited from the Gambling Commission/Secretary of State;

6.      the Council’s 3 main Licensing Objectives in the Gambling Act 2005 are:

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

b.            ensuring that gambling was conducted in a fair and open way;

c.            protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

7.            that the Cabinet Member for Environment & Street Scene had identified 3 additional preventative measures that he felt should be included for consideration as specific conditions relating to the issue of Premises Licenses, under the objective of protecting children from harm.  These were as follows:

a.      that there will be tough preventative measures to prevent access by Under 18 year olds to adult only areas of premises;

b.      that there will be no access by under 16 year olds to any premises during the school day; and

c.            that there will be no unaccompanied access by under 14 year olds to any premises during any day of the week.

The Committee was then asked to consider the draft Statement of Principles along with the issues raised by the Cabinet member for Environment & Street Scene:

(a)    the following comments were raised by members of the Committee in terms of the additional measures identified by the Cabinet member for Environment & Street Scene for inclusion within the Statement of Principles:

(i)           the need for a clearer definition to be provided on “tough preventative measures” as , if approved, the Sub Committee would be expected to apply this measure when considering any applications.  As an alternative the phrase “strict and robust preventative measures” was suggested for consideration;

(ii)         the potential difficulties in applying the measure designed to prevent access to any premises by under 16 year olds during the school day.  In order to simplify the position the Committee felt that the measure should:

·        be focussed on the prevention of access by truanting children; and

·        apply to children under the age of 18 (rather than 16) years old; (This specific issue was agreed by the Committee after a vote, with 3 members voting to keep the age at 16 and 6 members voting to amend the age to 18);

(b)    the following comments were raised by members of the Committee in relation to the draft Statement of Principles presented at the meeting:

(i)           a suggestion was made that a map showing the locations of schools and crime “hotspots” within the Borough be included as part of the Statement to assist the Sub Committee in considering applications.  In response the Committee was advised that this type of map had not been included as the “hotspots” may change over time.  Officers would, however, continue to liaise closely with the local police in order to identify these type of issues when responding to applications submitted for consideration under the Act;

(ii)         members concerns (particularly in terms of the link to the planning process) at the requirement, detailed in section 13.5 of the draft Statement, that a premises license could not be granted without the premises in which it was proposed to offer the gambling having been constructed.  The Chairman (supported by Sue McDaid) advised that this requirement formed part of the Act and was, therefore, not something that the Council (as Licensing Authority) could alter;

(iii)       whilst supportive of the reference, in section 18 of the draft Statement, to a “no casino” resolution being sought from Council, members were concerned that this had already been agreed as a principle without opportunity for wider debate amongst themselves.  In response Mark Galvayne advised:

·        that the Council, as Licensing Authority, had already had to make a decision not to apply to the Department for Culture, Media & Sport as a potential area for one of 17 “super casinos” shortly to be approved;

·        whilst the chance of the Council being asked to consider itself as a potential location for these type of casinos in future was minimal, a formal “no casino” resolution would mean that no applications for casino premises licenses would need to be considered;

In view of the concerns raised it was suggested that section 18 of the draft Statement should be amended, for consultation purposes, to specifically seek views on the Council’s intention to pass a “no casino” resolution.  The results could then be used to inform any final report to Council and potential strengthen the reasons for a no resolution being sought.

(iv)        minor amendments were identified to the following sections of the draft Statement:

·        section 9.1(a) – reference to “to be” should read “and are”;

·        section 9.7 – reference to “Parish Councils” to be removed as it was not relevant to Enfield as a London Borough.  In response the Chairman advised that this had been included as the Statement was based on a national draft;

(v)          following on from (iv) above the Chairman reminded the Committee of the need to recognise that the draft Statement was not complete as national guidance was still awaited in a number of areas.  These areas had been shaded in grey on the draft version of the Statement circulated with the agenda.

In view of the various issues raised above, members felt that a more detailed briefing would be required for the Committee on the proposals within the Act and key elements of the Statement of Principles, prior to any referral being made onto Council.  It was not felt however that this should prevent the draft Statement being issued on consultation.

AGREED that

(1)    in terms of the additional measures identified for inclusion within the draft Statement by the Cabinet member for Environment & Street Scene:

(a)    further legal advice be sought on the most appropriate form of wording for the additional measures to be included within the Statement, taking into account the issues raised by the Committee in (a) (i) – (ii) above; and

(b)        the Chairman of the Committee be granted delegated authority to approve the final form of wording for the additional measures to be included within the draft Statement.

(2)         subject to the amendments in (1) above and following changes identified by the Committee, the draft Statement of Principles be approved for distribution on formal public consultation:

(a)    views being sought under section 18 regarding the intention to seek a “no casino” resolution; and

(b)    the minor typographical amendments set out in (b) (iv) above;

(3)    once the formal 3 month public consultation process on the draft Statement of Principles had been completed a further report be provided for the Licensing Committee providing members with an opportunity to consider:

(a)    the requirements of the Act and key elements of Enfield’s Statement of Principles in more detail; alongside

(b)    the results of the public consultation exercise.

(4)    having undertaken the process outlined in (3) above the Committee would then finalise its comments on the Statement of Principles for referral onto Council.