An apology for absence was received from Cllr Emma Elliott. 

The minutes of the meeting held on Monday, 14 September 2021 were signed by the Chair.

Cllr Baljit Hayre and Cllr Steve Thompson declared non-pecuniary interests as they were both Personal Licence Holders.

The Chair registered the Committees condolences to the friends and family of Mr Meeka Nijjer, the President of Gravesham’s LVA, who sadly passed away last year.

The Committee was presented with a draft of the revised statement of licensing policy under the Gambling Act 2005 and the proposed consultation methodology.

The Senior Licensing Officer advised that section 349 of the Gambling Act 2005 required a Licensing Authority to prepare and publish a Statement of its Licensing Policy every three years. The majority of the proposed changes made to the revised Gambling Policy were of a minor or administrative nature to reflect changes in the wording of the GLA or for the sake of greater clarity/accuracy.

A section was added to the policy in relation to Small Society Lottery Registrations, which clarified the process the Council would take should a registration be refused or cancelled. That could be found under Appendix 3 of the policy.

It was proposed that the revised policy would come into effect on 31 January 2022 and remain valid for a period of three years, until 30 January 2025, unless it became necessary to make further revisions beforehand following changes to legislation, statutory guidance or local circumstances, for example.

The Committee was informed of the previously agreed ‘No Casino Resolution’ at Full Council on 18 December 2018 and it was recommended that Members renewed the Council’s no-casinos resolution for a further three-year period.

The Senior Licensing Officer advised that a 4-week consultation was proposed, commencing no later than 14 September 2021. Methods of consultation would be via the Council’s website and notice board, and by direct email and mail shots.

Members were informed that the report would be brought back to Licensing Committee on 02 November 2021 for further consideration and then presented to Full Council for approval on 07 December 2021 and subsequent publication.  

The Committee agreed to the Small Society Lottery guidance being included within the Gambling Policy for 2022-25.

Concern was raised by Members that not enough consideration had been given to the possibility of having a casino and there needed to be a discussion on the positives/negatives of a casino instead of just a formal resolution banning casino from Gravesham.

In response to Members questions concerning the ‘No Casino Resolution’, the Senior Licensing Officer and the Regulatory Services Manager explained that:

• As Gravesham had a ‘No Casino Resolution’ in place for the last three years there had been no applications received for the operation of a casino in Gravesham
• The Gambling Act restricted the amount of casinos allowed in the UK; there could only be eight large and eight small casinos in operation at any one time and they had all been permitted across various towns/cities. As such, if the ‘No Casino Resolution’ wasn’t in effect and an application was received it would still have to be refused due to the maximum limit of casinos having been met
• To allow a small casino to operate in Gravesham would mean that one of the current operators would have to give up their licence and then operators would be invited to apply in Gravesham. It was very unlikely that an operator  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.