Agenda item
Gambling Act 2005 - Review of Statement of Principles
Report attached.
Minutes:
Members considered a report of Councillor Melissa Fisher, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder forHousing and Communities, advising on the responses received to the consultation in respect of the Council’s draft revised Gambling Act 2005 Statement of Principles and proposing a policy for approval, having regard to the responses received.
Section 349 of the Gambling Act 2005 required that the Licensing Authority (the Council) prepared and published a Statement of Principles (the Policy) every three years.
The existing Policy had been kept under review since coming into force in January 2022.
In producing the draft policy the Licensing Authority had had due regard to –
- The Gambling Act 2005 licensing objectives namely:
o Preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime;
o Ensuring gambling was being conducted in a fair and open way;
o Protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling;
- The Guidance to Licensing Authorities issued by the Gambling Commission (5th edition); and
- Responses from those consulted on the Gambling Policy.
The draft proposals had been advertised on the Council’s website, with the consultation period running for 12 weeks from 15th July 2024 to 30th September 2024. Letters had been sent out to the gambling trade and a public notice and information about the policy and consultation had been placed in all of Hyndburn’s public libraries. The consultees comprised:
- Council chief officers and service heads;
- Gambling Commission;
- HM Revenue and Customs;
- Lancashire Constabulary;
- Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service Authority;
- Lancashire County Council – including Lancashire Area Child Protection Committee and Trading Standards Section;
- All neighbouring Councils;
- Licensing Solicitors;
- The British Casino Association;
- Casino Operators Association of the UK;
- Company Secretary, Casino Operators Association of the UK;
- Business in Sport and Leisure;
- Racecourse Association Ltd;
- British Holiday & Home Parks Association;
- Community Trade Union;
- All Gambling and Licensing Premise Licence Holders;
- All Small Lottery Licence Holders; and
- The general public by way of the Council’s website.
Response to Consultation
There had been 2 representations received during the consultation period. The Policy had been amended to reflect some of the comments in the consultation response submitted by Gosschalks Solicitors, on behalf of the Betting and Gaming Council. The changes were highlighted in the draft policy appended to the report, at paragraphs 12.9 and 12.45. However, although the second response was considered, the Licensing Manager did not think the Statement of Principles was the correct place to address the issues raised for the following reasons:
- The Gambling Act 2005 specifically required the Council to ‘aim to permit’ gambling. The legislation did not enable the policy to address general moral or ethical objections to gambling per se. The policy was instead intended to ensure that the Council addressed the statutory licensing objectives.
- Problem gambling was dealt with under Government initiatives and by the Gambling Commission codes of practice.
- One of the licensing objectives covered by the policy was protecting children and vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling. This would be considered when any applications for a licence were received and conditions could be added to licences to promote the achievement of this objective.
Councillor Fazal commented that the second consultation response referred to was from himself and he had simply been making a point about the negative effects of gambling. A lot of harm had been caused by gambling, particularly because of addiction. The Council had a responsibility to permit gambling, but this was not the same as making it easy to gamble. He considered that the Council should do its best to protect people at risk. This could perhaps be achieved by making it difficult to open new gambling establishments. He noted that there were four bookies in Accrington Town Centre alone. He confirmed that he was not advocating the prevention of gambling, just making it more difficult to access and ensuring that appropriate enforcement was carried out, particularly in connection with children. In the worst cases, excessive gambling via betting shops or fruit machines, could potentially lead to families needing to visit food banks.
Councillor Cox reminded Members that the previous Labour administration had brought in planning restrictions in connection with gambling locations (and for takeaways). Councillor Dad reiterated this point. He also emphasised that the current report and the recommendation were to ensure compliance with existing legislation. Councillor Aziz added that former MP Graham Jones had lobbied hard to reduce the maximum stakes on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) from £100 to £2 in 2018. Councillor Walsh reported that she was a member of Christians on the Left, a group affiliated to the Labour Party, which was currently lobbying for tighter restrictions on gambling. Councillor Addison reminded members that a significant amount of gambling took place in the home, on-line, which was outside of the Council’s control and something of a loophole. In some instances, people’s homes had been repossessed due to gambling debts.
Resolved - That the Council approves the final draft of the revised Gambling Act 2005 Statement of Principles, as set out at Appendix 1 to the report.
Supporting documents:
-
Gambling Act 2005 - Miain Report, item 226.
PDF 118 KB
-
Appendix 1 - Draft Statement of Principles 2025 - 2028, item 226.
PDF 1006 KB
-
Appendix 2 - Consultation Response from Gosschalks LLP, item 226.
PDF 157 KB
-
Appendix 3 - Consultation Response from Cllr S Fazal, item 226.
PDF 207 KB
-
Appendix 4 - Customer First Analysis, item 226.
PDF 278 KB