Issue - meetings

The Gambling Act 2005 requires the Council, as the Licensing Authority, to review and publish a Statement of Principles every three years. This report presents the draft Gambling Statement of Principles 2023-2026 for approval and adoption.

Note:  The meeting reconvened; Councillors Bob Broughton, Anna Kelly, Philip Knowles, Matthew Lee, Virginia Moran, Judy Stevens and Jill Thomas did not return.

          The Chief Executive and the Director of Growth and Culture rejoined the meeting.

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Governance and Licensing introduced a report asking the Council, as the Licensing Authority, to review and publish a Statement of Gambling Principles; it was required to do this every three years under the terms of the Gambling Act 2005.

The Statement sets out the general approach the Council would take when carrying out its regulatory role under the Gambling Act whilst promoting the three licensing objectives:

·       Preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder, or being used to support crime;

·       Ensuring that gambling was conducted in a fair and open way; and;

·       Protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

There were no changes proposed to the intent or direction of the Statement. Updates had been made to ensure the Statement reflected the current local profile and guidance and continued to be fit for purpose whilst promoting improvements.

The Cabinet Member informed members that public consultation on the draft Statement took place between 22 August 2022 and 18 September 2022, and 13 responses were received.

An amendment, in green text to the draft statement was proposed as a result of the consultations.

Members debated the report and noted that whilst the Council was fulfilling its duties as the Licensing Authority, it was important to keep in mind the negative effects of gambling on society. In addition, there were also a number of negative side-effects that resulted from gambling, such as suicides, addiction and domestic violence.

The Cabinet Member drew Members’ attention to an awaited Government white paper on gambling; it was hoped that this would outline steps to address gambling addiction.

Having been proposed and seconded, upon being put to the vote the motion was AGREED.

DECISION:

That Council:

1.    Notes the proposed updates to the Gambling Statement of Principles 2023-2026 and consultation feedback, and therefore;

2.    Approves the adoption of the revised South Kesteven District Council Gambling Statement of Principles 2023-2026.

The Council is required to review its Gambling Statement of Principles every 3 years. This report presents the draft Gambling Statement of Principles 2023-2026 for comment and the feedback from the required consultation.

Purpose of report

The Council was required to review its Gambling Statement of Principles every 3 years. This report presented the draft Gambling Statement of Principles 2023-2026 for comment alongside the feedback from the required consultation.

Decision

That Cabinet:

1. Notes the proposed updates to the Gambling Statement of Principles and consultation feedback. 

2. Recommends, with the amended text at Appendix One of the report, that the revised South Kesteven District Council Gambling Statement of Principles 2023-2026 is suitable to be presented to Full Council for adoption.

Alternative options considered and rejected

Failure to undertake a review of the Statement would have meant that this aspect of the Licensing Authority’s operation was not compliant with legislative requirements.  

Reason for decision

The development of the revised Statement had been overseen by the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee at their meeting on 11 October, with the involvement of the Licensing Committee.  Public consultation had demonstrated support for the revised document. This decision would ensure that that the Council met its obligations under Section 349 of the Gambling Act to review the Statement every 3 years.

The Council issued a range of permits to authorise gambling facilities across the district. The current Statement of Principles dated from 2020; the Gambling Act required local authorities to prepare an updated Statement of Principles every three years.

The Statement set out the general approach that the Council would take with regard to its regulatory role within the Gambling Act. This included adhering to the three objectives of the Gambling Act, which were:

1. preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder, or being used to support crime
2. ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way
3. protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling

Updates had been made to the Statement in order to reflect the current local profile and guidance whilst ensuring it was fit for purpose. The draft Statement, with revisions was included as Appendix One to the report. Appendix Two to the report outlined the changes to the Statement in more detail.

A statutory consultation took place from August 2022 and garnered thirteen responses. The feedback from this consultation was included at Appendix Four.

The agreed amendment to the draft statement was as follows:

‘Social responsibility code provisions - Provisions describing arrangements which should be made by persons providing facilities for gambling for the purpose of - 

(a) ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way. 

(b) protecting children and other vulnerable persons form being harmed or exploited by gambling; and;

(c) making assistance available to persons who are or may be affected by problems related to gambling.

Compliance with these is a condition of operator licences; therefore, any breach of them by a licensed operator may lead the Commission to review the operator’s licence with a view to suspension, revocation or the imposition of a financial penalty and would also expose the operator to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52