Issue - meetings

This report asks Council to consider the consultation responses and proposed amendments to the draft Statement of Gambling Policy and approve the Policy, following initial consideration by the Licensing and Safety Committee, the Business Support Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the Cabinet, in accordance with the Policy Framework rules.

Discussion:

This report provided details of the revised Statement of Gambling Policy following public consultation and set out the comments of the Licensing and Safety Committee, Business Support Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Cabinet.

Details of the consultation were set out in section 5 of the report and the comments of the Licensing and Safety Committee, Business Support Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Cabinet were set out in sections 8-10 of the report.

Councillor Carr, supported by Councillor Kemp, proposed the recommendations as set out in the report.

Decision:

a)    The Council noted the minor administrative change to Appendix C of the Statement of Gambling Policy 2019-22 as outlined in section 7 of this report.

b)    The Council noted the comments of the Licensing and Safety Committee, Business Support Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Cabinet as set out in sections 8, 9 and 10 of the report.

c)    The Council approved the Statement of Gambling Policy 2019-22, as set out in Appendix 4 to the report.

Background:

This report provided details of proposed amendments to the current Council Statement of Gambling Policy, which was approved at Full Council on 21 January 2016 for a period of three years. It was noted that Medway’s draft Policy sought to:

·         Provide the Licensing Authority with a secure foundation on which to determine applications in a way that clearly promotes licensing objectives, protects residents and allows the vision for the Council to be achieved through a clear, fair and robust licensing process;

·         Reflect legislative changes and the Licensing Authority’s approach to new initiatives; and

·         Help ensure that applicants have a clear understanding of the Council’s expectations and of the impacts of their licensed business or proposed activities could have on others and what they must do to enhance the positive impacts and mitigate any detrimental impacts.

The report provided details of the consultation process which had been undertaken on the draft Policy. Three responses had been received with some suggested amendments. The suggestions and proposed action was outlined in Appendix 3 to the report and the draft policy had been amended to incorporate the recommendations, following agreement by the Licensing and Safety Committee.

The draft Policy had been considered by the Licensing and Safety Committee (26 June 2018) and the Business Support Overview and Scrutiny Committee (5 July 2018) in accordance with the policy framework rules, details of which were set out in paragraph 8 of the report and an addendum report, which was tabled at the meeting.

Reasons:

The Statement of Gambling Policy sets out how the Council will regulate licensable activities, as required by the Gambling Act 2005.