Agenda item

Report of the Director of Public Protection & Licensing.

5.1      Kerry Simpkin, Licensing Team Manager, introduced the report.  It was proposed to establish a pool of model conditions for gambling premises under the Gambling Act 2005 which would mirror the approach taken for Licensing Act 2003 premises licences.  These had been drawn up from existing conditions already in place on gambling premises within Westminster, from a list of conditions that the Gambling Commission has pulled together from other local authorities as best practice and also conditions officers had developed themselves to address specific issues that had been raised.  These conditions would be in addition to the mandatory and default conditions specified in the Gambling Act.  It would be useful to all parties involved at hearings to have a standardised wording for conditions that were appropriate to specific circumstances.  Mr Simpkin added that he wished to amend the recommendation in the report.  He suggested that this should be that the Committee is recommended to approve the establishment of the pool of model conditions for gambling premises as set out in Appendix A of this report and to authorise the operational Director to update and amend the model conditions as and when it is appropriate to do so.

5.2      Councillor Mitchell commented that this was a direction of travel that the Sub-Committee had been moving in for some time.  He made the point that the list of model conditions used in relation to the Licensing Act 2003 was a very useful tool at Sub-Committee meetings.  He requested that the proposed recommendation was tweaked so that the operational Director would consult the Cabinet Member for Public Protection (with licensing as part of the portfolio) prior to updating and amending the model conditions.

5.3      Members raised a number of matters regarding the specific conditions for gambling premises.  Councillor Evans asked whether there were any ‘betting tracks’ in Westminster which was referred to in the mandatory conditions.  Mr Simpkin replied that Lords Cricket Ground did qualify as a ‘betting track’ which was the case for all sports stadia.  Councillor Caplan stated that he had a real difficulty with ATM facilities being physically located in a betting shop.  There needed to be a view taken at Central Government level about how this could be addressed.  Mr Simpkin advised that ATM facilities were permitted within betting shop premises but there was a mandatory condition that they would be located in a place that requires any customer who wishes to use them to cease gambling in order to do so.  Model condition 75 was being proposed that there would be ‘no cash point or ATM facilities on the premises’ and could be imposed should Members of the Sub-Committee decide that there was evidence of vulnerable people at the location of the gambling premises where an application was being considered.  Councillor Evans made the point that in certain cases if there were ATM facilities outside premises there were potential issues with muggings.  He expressed the view that it was a matter of judgement where ATMs should be positioned depending on the area where the betting shop was located.  Councillor Burbridge asked about the significance of the proposed model condition 40.  Mr Simpkin explained that ‘spit kits’ were DNA sampling kits in the event that staff were spat at and there would be an onus on the licensee, if the condition was imposed, to provide them within the premises and provide staff training on the use of the kits.  This would potentially be trialled in Westminster. 

5.4      Mr Simpkin stated that on the advice of Chris Wroe, Licensing Policy and Strategy Manager, he was suggesting that the model conditions were hence forward known as gambling model conditions or ‘GMCs’ to distinguish them from the model conditions used under the Licensing Act.  The Committee agreed this was a good idea.  Mr Wroe also suggested that it would perhaps be more appropriate for the operational Director to consult with the Chairman of the Licensing Committee when updating and amending the model conditions as the application of the conditions were a committee function.  It was decided by the Committee that the operational Director would consult both the Licensing Committee Chairman and the Cabinet Member for Public Protection (both roles currently held by Councillor Aiken).  The Chairman stated that introducing the model conditions at this time was particularly useful ahead of the gambling policy review. 

5.5       RESOLVED: (i) That the establishment of the pool of model conditions for gambling premises as set out in Appendix A of this report be approved; and,

            (ii) That the updating and amendment of the model conditions be delegated to the Director of Public Protection and Licensing in consultation with the Licensing Committee Chairman and Cabinet Member for Public Protection.