Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

(i)                 to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)               where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)             the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)              if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

RESOLVED:  To note the attendance at this meeting of the following duly appointed Reserve Member:-

To receive declarations of personal or prejudicial interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)               all Members of the Committee;

(b)               all other Members present.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no declarations of interests made by Members.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 21 November 2011 and the special meeting held on 24 May 2012 be taken as read and signed as correct records.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the ordinary meeting held on 21 November 2011 and the special meeting on 24 May 2012 be taken as read and signed as correct records.

To receive questions (if any) from local residents/organisations under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 17.

RESOLVED: To note that no public questions were put, or petitions or deputations received.

Report of Divisional Director, Environment.

An officer presented a report which sought approval of a reviewed Gambling Policy for the Council.  The officer reported that the Gambling Commission were currently in the process of consulting on revised statutory guidance relating to the Gambling Policy.

As a result it was expected that there would be changes to the guidance provided by the Gambling Commission by December 2012.  Once this was issued, changes to the Gambling Policy would have to take place to reflect the new guidance.

For this reason, it had been proposed to extend the current policy as the current Gambling Policy expired in October 2012.  This would mean that the Council would not have to repeat a consultation process on any new policy only a few months apart.  The Council had written to the responsible authorities detailing this proposal and had received no comments of objection.

During the discussion on this item, Members raised a number of queries, which the officer responded to as follows:

·                    Operators were not required to pay a fee as a result of the renewal of the Gambling Policy.  They were only required to pay the current applicable Licensing fees.  The Council had to operate within this financial boundary.

·                    There had been an increase in the number of betting shops in the borough.  It was believed that this was a result of new legislation.  Discussions were currently ongoing as to whether the Council could implement Cumulative Impact Zones which would prevent new betting shops being opened within a particular area if problems were being encountered.

·                    There was an appetite amongst the public for engaging in consultations on the Gambling Policy.

During the discussion on this item, Members made a number of comments which included the following:

·                    It was sensible to renew the current policy until the statutory guidance was changed and was more efficient in terms of no duplication of a consultation process.

·                    The Cumulative Impact Zones were welcomed and was a positive initiative.

·                    There was disappointment that there had been no comments by the Responsible Authorities to the proposal by officers.

·                    It was wise to ensure that where the Policy referred to careful consideration of applications which were close to Sunday Schools, this did not simply apply to Churches but also to other places of worship such as temples, mosques and synagogues.

Resolved to RECOMMEND:  (to Council)

That the Gambling Policy, as enclosed at appendix 1 to the minutes, be approved and adopted.