Agenda item

The Committee received a report from the Environmental Health Manager, advising that a public consultation on the updated Statement of Principles under the Gambling Act 2005 was undertaken from 3^rd July 2015 to 3 September 2015. The updated statement was approved at Licensing Committee on 12 October and a meeting on of Full Council on 22 October 2015.

A detailed review had subsequently been undertaken by Officers following the approval of the Statement of Principles to develop a Local Area Profile, Local Gambling Risk Assessment Guidance and Risk Assessment Template which formed part of the Gambling Statement.

In response to the Committee’s questions, the Environmental Health Manager and the Licensing & Enforcement Manager confirmed the following:

     i.        The reference to the ‘places of worship and religious buildings’ were not to highlight the consideration of moral and ethical views on gambling.

    ii.        A number of religious buildings in the local area were used for additional community purposes by various members of the community such as school groups, young adults, and the homeless community and therefore needed to be included in the Local Area Profile.

   iii.        If operators were not asked to take into consideration the proximity of their business to places of worship and religious buildings (as with all community centres) a reasonable risk to certain groups would not be highlighted and could be missed.

  iv.        Operators would be asked to demonstrate how they would operate in close proximity to these buildings and not how they operated within the views of the place of worship or religious building that they might be suited close to.  

   v.        By using places of worship and religious buildings in the Local Area Profile this would help operators identify that these buildings could also be used as community centres and consider what additional risks there could be.

  vi.        Had no objections to the results of the community facilities audit being undertaken by the community services scrutiny committee being included in the Local Area Profile when it had been completed.

 vii.        The Local Area Profile and Statement of Gambling Principles highlighted the risks to the operators’ business and they needed to demonstrate how those risks would be mitigated.   

viii.        Betting shops required an operating licence (issued by the Gambling Commission) and a premise licence (issued by the Local Authority) which set out the activities undertaken on the premise. The premise licence had an unlimited duration unless there had been a significant change to the Local Area Profile which could then be reviewed.

  ix.        Those premises with fixed gambling terminals were asked to demonstrate what was being done to eliminate the risk to children and the vulnerable. City Council Officers had undertaken local inspections and were satisfied that the risks were being mitigated; there had been no infringements in the last twelve months.

The Committee:

Resolved unanimously to recommend to Council to:

       i.        Endorse the post-consultation updated Statement of Gambling Principles shown in Appendix A of the Officer’s report and recommend to full Council that the policy is approved for publication on 15 April 2016 for it to come into effect on 13 May 2016.