Agenda item

Report of the Corporate Director (Public Protection, Planning and Governance) on the Council’s Statement of Principles under the Gambling Act 2005.

Report of the Corporate Director (Public Protection, Planning and Governance) on the Council’s Statement of Principles under the Gambling Act 2005.

The report recommended adoption of the Council’s Statement of Principles (Gambling Act 2005) for a 3-year period commencing 31 January 2022, as required by section 349 of the Gambling Act 2005.  Once adopted the statement of principles would form part of the decision-making process for Council Members and Officers when they are determining applications for premises licences and permits. The statement of principles would also be used by the Courts should they be asked to consider an appeal against a committee decision. The statement of principles followed the prescribed statutory format and was the subject of a consultation exercise. The draft statement of principles was approved for consultation release by the Licensing Committee on 21 July 2021.

In connection with the Gambling Act 2005 (Gambling Act or the Act) the Council was obliged to have regard to promoting the statutory licensing objectives contained in the Act, firstly preventing gambling being a source of crime and disorder, being associated with crime and disorder or being used to support crime; secondly ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way and thirdly protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

The policy was publicly consulted upon between 27 July and 25 October 2021 and received no responses.

The following points were raised and discussed:

·         Members noted that there were minimal changes from the previous policy and were happy to approve the new document.

RESOLVED:

(unanimous)

The Licensing Committee approved the Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council statement of principles at Appendix 1 and its adoption for the next three years, commencing 31 January 2022.