The Chair stated that it was his intention to deal with item 2 (Minutes of previous meeting) and item 8 (the two supplementary sets of Minutes) together.

The Minutes of the Licensing Committee meeting held on 4 March 2015 were signed by the Chair.

The two sets of Minutes from the Licensing Panels held on 19 March 2015 and 8 July 2015 – circulated as urgent items - were noted.

The Chair declared a personal non-prejudicial interest - his son had been appointed as Operations Manager for a national firm of Bookmakers.

The Committee was advised that despite their best efforts the Trading Standards Authority were unable to attend the meeting to make their presentation.  It was hoped they would be able to attend a future meeting.

Under the Gambling Act 2005, the Council as a Licensing Authority had to prepare and publish its Statement of Licensing Policy every three years.

The draft of the new policy, appended to the report, contained two substantive changes.   These were:-

·         the option for the inclusion of a Local Area Profile (a way of describing a process of gathering and presenting information about a locality and any particular areas of concern);

·         allowance for an operator to be required to assess local risk, in terms of understanding the local environment and reflecting that awareness in their procedures and policies should mitigate any local risks to the licensing objective posed by the provision of gambling facilities at each premise.  Operators would be required to supply the risk assessment to the local licensing authority when applying for a new premises licence; a variation of an existing premises licence or, upon request;

The new Policy would be the subject of a comprehensive consultation exercise that would include Councillors, Parish Councils, all responsible authorities, various groups and organisations as shown in Section 4 of the report.

Members noted that the Council was also at the point in the three year cycle of having to determine its stance to Section 166 of the Gambling Act 2005 relating to the issue of casino licences within its boundaries.  Gravesham had not actually applied for such a licence and at present there were no opportunities to apply for one.

Resolved that the review of the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy go ahead as outlined in the report with the outcome being reported to Licensing Committee prior to submission to full Council.

As part of the briefings being given to all members about Licensing – the Assistant Director (Communities) and the Licensing Manager – gave a presentation outlining the requirements of the various Licensing Acts including applications for Street Collection Permits, House to House collection Licences and Lotteries.

Members requested clarification in relation to a few matters including the difference between a Peddlar’s Licence and those obtained by charities for Street Collections.

Members thanked officers for the presentation.