The Head of Legal and Regulatory Services submitted a report, the purpose of which, was to report the outcome of the three year review of the Gambling Statement of Principles, the framework which governs the way this authority undertakes its duties as the licensing authority for gambling.  This matter was reported to Cabinet on 18 December 2018 but approval of the Statement of Principles for the next three year period from 2019 is a Council function.

The Mayor invited the Head of Shared Regulatory Services to present the report.

 He advised that the Gambling Act 2005 provides for a regulatory system to govern the provision of all gambling in Great Britain, other than the National Lottery and spread betting. The Gambling Commission was set up under the Gambling Act 2005 to regulate commercial gambling in Great Britain in partnership with licensing authorities as local regulators.  The Act places a legal duty on both the Commission and licensing authorities to aim to permit gambling, in so far as it is considered to be reasonably consistent with the licensing objectives, and the full regulatory framework was set out at paragraph 4.2 of the report.

He proceeded by confirming that the Council is required to publish a policy statement, known as the Statement of Principles every three years.  The current document had been reviewed and a draft consultation undertaken.  A copy of the draft Statement of Principles was attached at Appendix A to the report, with the reviewed elements shown highlighted in red. He pointed out to Council that on page 7 of Appendix A the number of betting premises in Bridgend in 2018, had now reduced from 17 to 18.

The Head of Shared Regulatory Services stated that the Act places a duty on the Council to develop a Statement of Principles that promotes the three licensing objectives contained in paragraph 4.1 of the report.

Analysis of complaints and intelligence received by the Council since the last revision of the Statement, suggested that no new trends or concerns had emerged during the last three years, either by sector or location.  One of the enforcement concerns which had arisen is the siting of machines in takeaways and other shops, which is illegal and this resulted in a prosecution and cannot therefore be dealt with as a policy issue.

He advised that no significant changes were made to the Statement of Principles, however, it follows the approach set out in the 5^th Edition of the statutory guidance issued by the Gambling Commission to licensing authorities referred to in paragraph 4.2 of the report.

This meant that in the absence of any local factor or risk, the authority will follow the Gambling Commission’s approach to regulating gambling as set out in the Guidance.  It is important to recognise that whilst the authority must have regard to the Guidance in its decision making, the Guidance does not seek to fetter the discretion of the authority in dealing with applications or compliance. 

The Head of Shared Regulatory Services confirmed that a consultation exercise had been initiated as part of the review, involving those bodies and stakeholders detailed in paragraph 4.5 of the report. The consultation he advised took place between 31 August and 9 November 2018. The responses to this were detailed in Appendix B to the report.

The original draft Statement of Principles did not contain a relevant issue, in the form of certain amendments shown in paragraphs 4.8.2 through to4.9.2 of the report.

The Head of Shared Regulatory Services added that whilst not impacting on this policy review, Council is advised, that the Government has announced a changed to the stakes involved in gaming machines known as “Fixed Odds Betting Terminals” (FOBTs). FOBTs are electronic machines, sited in betting shops, which contain a variety of games, including roulette.  The maximum stake on a single bet is £100, the maximum prize is £500.  These machines have proved controversial, with concerns being raised that the machines have a causal link to problem gambling because of the large amount of money that can be lost in a short time.  From April 2019, the maximum stake will be reduced to £2.00.  (Source: UK Parliament Library Briefing paper 16 November 2018).

A Member asked the Head of Shared Regulatory Services, how many age test purchase checks had been carried out in the last 3 years, and how many of these had been found to be under age.

He replied that he would be able to provide this information outside of the meeting.

A Member referred to page 45 of the papers where there was situate in table format, findings from a local analysis of the gambling profile of BCBC. He felt it would be useful if the data detailed here could be compared with other neighbouring authorities.

The Head of Shared Regulatory Services confirmed that he could undertake such a comparable data exercise, and once more come back to the Member outside of the meeting.

A Member whilst acknowledging controls that the local authority and other organisations put in place for gambling, was concerned over what was beyond our control. To that end, she felt that it would be useful if the Council would write to the Advertising Standards Authority asking them to look at issues relating to encouraging gambling, through for example, the over-publicising of on-line gambling sites etc.

The Leader advised that he would arrange for this to take place, and send a letter on behalf of Council along these lines, to the Gambling Commissioner, both the Welsh and UK Governments and Offcom.

RESOLVED:                  That Council approved the Statement of Gambling Principles for the three year period 2019-2021, incorporating with the proposed amendments 1 – 3 referred to in paragraphs 4.8.1 to 4.9.2 of the report, and to approve publication in accordance with the regulations.