Agenda and minutes

General Purposes Committee - Thursday, 12th September, 2024 6.00 pm

Venue: Castle House, Great North Road, Newark, NG24 1BY

Contact: Helen Brandham  Email: helen.brandham@newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk 01636 655248

Items
No. Item

29.

Notification to those present that the meeting will be recorded and streamed online

Minutes:

The Chair advised that due to technical issues it was not possible to livestream or record the proceedings.

30.

Declarations of Interests from Members and Officers

Minutes:

Councillor Jean Hall declared an Other Registerable Interest in Agenda Item No. 6 – Review of the Statement of Gambling Policy as the Manager of a Betting Shop. 

31.

Minutes of the Meeting Held on 29 February 2024 pdf icon PDF 428 KB

Minutes:

AGREED      that the Minutes of the meeting held 29 February 2024 were a correct record and signed by the Chair.

32.

Forward Plan (September 2024 to August 2025) pdf icon PDF 537 KB

Minutes:

NOTED       the General Purposes Committee’s Forward Plan (September 2024 to August 2025).

33.

Review of Statement of Gambling Policy pdf icon PDF 437 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the report of the Senior Licensing Officer, presented by the Environmental Health & Licensing Manager which presented to Members the proposed review of the Statement of Gambling Policy prior to formal public consultation taking place. 

 

It was reported that the Gambling Act 2005 required the Council to have in place a Policy relating to the carrying out of its functions under that Act and that the Policy must be reviewed every three years.  The review process was outlined in paragraph 2 of the report with a list of the consultees set out in the appendix to the report.

 

In considering the report a Member raised a number of items which required amendment prior to the consultation commencing as detailed below:

 

·      Page 6 of the Policy: the map is out of date.  The Tourist Information Centre is now located at Rufford Abbey Country Park.

·      Page 7 of the Policy – paragraphs 2.1.5 and 2.1.6 required updating

·      Page 7 of the Policy – paragraph 2.1.7 and the bullet points therein required updating .

·      Page 36 of the Policy – Delete reference to HM Customs & Excise to HMRC.

 

A Member commented that a great deal of gambling was done online and expressed concern that local authorities had no control over this type of gambling.

 

A Member requested that reference to the link between gambling and the threat of violence in the domestic environment be included.

 

AGREED      (unanimously) that:

 

a)            subject to the proposed amendments noted above, the draft revision of the Council’s Statement of Gambling Policy be approved;

 

b)            the commencement of the 6-week public consultation be approved; and

 

c)             the final draft Policy, after public consultation, be presented to the General Purposes Committee for approval prior to adoption at full Council in December 2024.

34.

Update on Performance and Enforcement Matters pdf icon PDF 541 KB

Minutes:

The Committee considered the report of the Senior Licensing Officer, presented by the Environmental Health & Licensing Manager, which set out the range and number of license applications received during the period April to June 2024. 

 

AGREED      that the report be noted.