Agenda item

The report asks the committee to consider the amendments made to the current Council Statement of Gambling Policy. 

Discussion:

The Licensing and Local Land Charges Manager introduced the report on the review of the Council’s statement of gambling policy.

She stated that the Gambling Act 2005 required that licensing authorities review their statement of principles every 3 years.  The statement of gambling policy sets out how Medway Council would administer processes required under the Act.

The decision of the Licensing and Safety Committee on 24 July 2012 was for officers to prepare and consult on a draft policy statement and report back to the Committee.

She stated that the existing policy for the period 2010 to 2013 had been updated to reflect current legislation and also the new updated guidance on the matters the Council could have regard to when considering an application and to confirm arrangements for ensuring that premises complied with their licence conditions and responsibilities.

The Licensing and Local Land Charges Manager and Senior Licensing and Enforcement Officer responded to Members’ questions.  Clarification was given about the different roles of the Council as the licensing authority and the Gambling Commission.  It was stated that the Council issued the premises licences and the Gambling Commission issued the operating licences and personal licences.

The Senior Licensing and Enforcement Officer explained that there had been an increase of Bingo and Adult Gaming Centres which split their premises into two or more gambling premises to enable them to increase the number of high payout gaming machines on offer for customers.  Due to Gambling Commission guidance on primary use of the premises it was determined the Council would provide more information within the Gambling Policy on how operators could split their premises to comply with the regulations.  Split premises generated more income on annual fees to the Council but since recent changes allowing an increase of gaming machine entitlements for Bingo and Adult Gaming Centres, those which had previous split premises had returned to just one, which had reduced the income generated from annual fees.

In relation to visits by the Gambling Commission it was stated that there was one person covering the South East area but the licensing authority had built up a good relationship with them and shared intelligence of illegal machine operators.  She stated that details had been passed to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs of premises who had not displayed or been issued with an Amusement Machine Licence Duty Permit that had led to them recouping £14,000 in lost duty.

Reference was made to the changing legislation in relation to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs Amusement Machine Licence Duty Permit that would mean that from April 2013 the fixed licence fee would cease and it would be based upon the gross profits of each gaming machine.  How this would work has not yet been determined and licensees were unaware of how this would affect them.  It was explained that the licensing authority would still administer the notifications of two or less gaming machines, licensed premises gaming machine permits and club machine permits.

The Chairman reminded the Committee that this would be the last meeting of Licensing and Safety Committee for the Head of Legal Services before she left the Council.  She paid tribute to the assistance she had given to the Committee and wished her well for the future.

Decision: 

The Committee agreed the amendments made to the Gambling Policy and recommended that Business Support Overview and Scrutiny Committee refer it to Cabinet and then Council for approval in accordance with the policy framework rules.