Agenda and draft minutes

To note any substitution of Committee Members in accordance with Council Procedure Rules 19 -22.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors K Bonkur, H Goldwater, B Sarson and R Trigg.

The following substitution of members was made in accordance with Council Procedure Rules:

Cllr Alex Bardett for Cllr B Sarson 

Cllr L Chesterman for Cllr K Bonkur

Cllr M Short for Cllr R Trigg

Cllr S Bonfante for Cllr H Goldwater.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 22 August 2024 (previously circulated).

The minutes of the meeting held on 22 August 2024 were approved as a correct record.

There were no items of urgent business.

To note declarations of Members’ disclosable pecuniary interests, non-disclosable pecuniary interests and non-pecuniary interests in respect of items on the Agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive a report of the Executive Director (Resident Services and Climate Change) on the Gambling Act Policy.

The Licensing Team Leader introduced the report. Section 349 of the Gambling Act required all licensing authorities to prepare and publish a statement of the principles that they proposed to apply in exercising their functions under the Act during the three year period to which the policy applied (January 2025 – 2028). The statement must be produced following consultation. The draft revised policy was consulted on for 12 weeks between June and September 2024 and five responses were received which were included in Appendix 3 of the report.

One of the responses received was from Hatfield Town Council which was generally in support of the policy.

Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) had raised three points:

• It was launching a Gambling Harms strategy at the end of 2024; one of its proposed strategic priorities was about influencing the licensing and regulatory environment to protect vulnerable people from gambling harm and to be clear on the individual roles of the County Council and district and borough councils. The Hertfordshire Joint Needs Assessment Briefing in 2022 provided a wealth of evidence which was recommended to be referenced in the Gambling Statement of Principles. Members were asked whether they would like to reference this in the Welwyn Hatfield Gambling Act policy; premises were required to produce a risk assessment and to have procedures and measures in place to mitigate risk. Members voted unanimously that the policy would reference the joint needs assessment on gambling.
• HCC had made specific comments relating to the harm caused by problem gambling and the impact of applications locally to protect children and vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling. Hertfordshire Public Health recommended that the policy statement should reference the cumulative impact of applications locally. Cumulative impact was not mentioned in the Gambling Act and so if this was to be considered, it should be on the basis of evidence that the Gambling Act objectives were being locally undermined. This could potentially be unjustified as there was a low number of establishments in the borough (15) and neither the Council or police had any concerns. Members were asked whether they wished the policy to reference cumulative impact. A member asked where the line would be drawn (i.e. what was the maximum number of premises acceptable for a location) and officers responded that legislation meant a gambling licence could only be refused with good reason: establishments needed a licence from the Gambling Commission, to complete a risk assessment that took account of the Council’s policy and local area profile, and to be licensed by the Council. The only grounds for which an application could be refused was if an establishment failed to meet the relevant criteria. If there were concerns about an excess of premises in a location, the establishment would be asked in its risk assessment and application to focus on how it would be protecting the relevant criteria. Cumulative impact could be revisited at any time if it became an issue. A member asked what would be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.