Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest.

         The minutes of the meeting held on 20 September 2012 were approved as a true and accurate record.

         The Committee received a report on the Gambling Act 2005 requirements for all licensing authorities to prepare and publish a Statement of Principles, which had set out how duties would be administered.  The report also advised that the Statement must be published at least every three years and amended from time to time, with any amended parts re-consulted upon, and subsequently re-published.  The current statement was last published on 31 January 2010 and the current three year period was coming to an end.

         Members were informed that the draft revised Statement of Principles was currently being consulted on and that the deadline date for representations was 26 October 2012.

         In addition, Members were advised that a notice had appeared in the Peterborough Telegraph on 30 August 2012 advising where the draft Statement of Principles may be viewed, contact details and deadline dates for comments.

         Members were requested to review and comment on the changes made to the Peterborough City Council Gambling Act 2005 - Statement of Principles prior to the end of the consultation process.

Comments and responses to questions included:

·         Members commented that consideration should be given to strengthen the wording at paragraph 7.9 of the Statement of Principles to reflect the Licensing Committee Members responsibility under the Code of Conduct to declare an interest where appropriate and when approached over their representation for a gambling license application;

·         Following confirmation sought by Members, the Licensing Development Officer advised that no responses had been received following the public notice published in the Evening Telegraph;

·         Members raised concerns over the clarity of a table within the policy which detailed the summary of licensing authority delegations permitted under the Gambling Act 2005; 

·         Following clarification sought by Members over the references in the list of consultees, the Licensing Development Officer advised that Cambridgeshire Fire was included due to their responsibility under the Licensing Act and Gamcare had been included due to their active interest as a partner agency;

·         In clarification sought over Gamcare’s involvement regarding the application for gambling licenses, the Licensing Development Officer advised that the agency were consulted as part of the process, which was why reference had been made to Gamcare in the Statement of Principles; and

·         Following a question raised by Members, the Licensing Development Officer advised that Gamcare were not based locally, however, many licensed gambling outlets displayed Gamcare’s code of practice mark.

                   RESOLVED:

The Committee reviewed and commented on the changes made to the Peterborough City Council’s Gambling Act 2005 - Statement of Principles prior to the end of the consultation process.

         It was confirmed that the Committee’s comment regarding their duty of care under the Code of Conduct and matters of conflict of interest when requested to consider a gambling licensing application, would be incorporated into to the Statement of Principles.

         Reasons for the decision:

It was a statutory requirement under Section 349 of the Gambling Act 2005 for licensing authorities to prepare, consult and revise three-yearly its Statement of Principles.