Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 6 September 2012

Resolved: That the minutes of the Licensing Committee held on 6 September 2012 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Any interests not already registered

No declarations of interest were made.

None

There were no actions from the previous meeting.

The Chairman drew Members’ attention to the updated list of consultation responses which had been tabled.

The Licensing Partnership Manager reminded the Committee that the Council was legally obliged to renew the Gambling Act 2005 Policy every 3 years. The proposed changes to the Policy had already been sent out for consultation. Few amendments to the Policy were proposed but Officers had in particular tried to anticipate the guidance expected from the Gambling Commission in late October or early November 2012. It was felt it would be inappropriate to wait until the guidance had been published as this would provide insufficient time to approve and publish an updated Policy by the deadline of 7 January 2013.

Officers considered that the policy had worked well in practice. The District only had 7 betting premises but these had been found to be well regulated and caused few concerns. Those running the premises demonstrated good knowledge of challenging customers’ ages and practices for customers to exclude themselves. Since the Gambling Act 2005 had been introduced the District had lost 2 but gained 1 new betting premises.

The Chairman believed the Policy had been shown to be fit for purpose so far. He thanked Cllr. Fittock for his helpful response to the consultation.

Resolved: That the policy be recommended for adoption by Full Council.

At its meeting on 6 September 2012 the Committee had agreed to adopt further powers to regulate Sexual Entertainment Venues. The Licensing Partnership Manager clarified that the Council had not previously had a policy for Sex Shops, Sex Cinemas and Sexual Entertainment Venues, that there were no such venues in the District and that she was not aware that any applications for a licence were forthcoming. However it would be appropriate to adopt a policy before any application for a licence was made. The Policy would be sent for consultation before approval.

The list of consultees for the Policy would be similar to those for the Gambling Act 2005 Policy. Officers would also consult those who responded to the initial consultation on adopting further powers to regulate Sexual Entertainment Venues and Officers would also take into account the request, made in comments to the Gambling Act 2005 Policy, that the list of consultees should be extended.

Members advised Officers that, during the consultation, they should make it clear to the public which types of venue which would be regulated under the Policy and which could not.

In response to a question, the Licensing Partnership Manager pointed out that although Members could not refuse on moral grounds to put such a venue, for example, next to a church Members may still consider that the application should be refused on grounds such as that the proposal would not be in keeping with the character of the locality.

It was confirmed that the process for considering an application for a licence was likely to be similar to the process for considering an application made under the Licensing Act 2003. However these delegations would need to be considered separately and the details would be finalised at a later meeting.

Resolved: To agree that consultation be held on the policy.