minutes

The Minutes of the Licensing Committee Meeting held on 26th May 2006 (Minute Nos. 50 - 53) and the Minutes of the Licensing Sub-Committee Meetings held on:
20th June 2005 (Minute Nos. 84 - 85)
1st June 2006 (Minute Nos. 75 - 77)
16th June 2006 (Minute Nos. 110 - 113)
17th July 2006 (Minute Nos. 207 - 210)
16th August 2006 (Minute Nos. 259 - 261)
were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as correct records.

declarations of interest

No interests were declared.

part a minutes for confirmation

approval of second draft of the new gambling act policy

The Chairman introduced the second draft of the Gambling Act Policy. The Senior Solicitor reported that the Policy was the result of the work by the Kent and Medway Steering Group and had been slightly amended to make it relevant to Swale.

A Member commented on the representation received from the Association of British Bookmakers. The Licensing Officer explained that all their recommendations had been included in the draft Policy in bold text.

A Member considered that Leysdown should be specifically mentioned in the introduction to the Policy due to the large number of gambling machines that were present in the town.

Members discussed the use of the word "sympathetic" in the recommendation from the Association of British Bookmakers on page 18 of the draft Policy. It was suggested by a Member that the paragraph be removed.

Members discussed the "no casinos resolution" on page 7 of the draft Policy and considered the need for planning permission and the impact on minor gambling situations such as bingos and raffles. The Licensing Officer advised that small lottery licenses would continue to be dealt with separately.

Members requested that written guidance be prepared by the Monitoring Officer for Members who sit on both the Planning and Licensing Committees on how possible future applications, which would involve both Committees, should be handled.

MO

In response to a comment from a Member regarding the use of door supervisors, the Licensing Officer clarified that the recommendation from the Association of British Bookmakers on page 22 of the Policy referred to betting offices only.

In response to a question from a Member, the Senior Solicitor explained that the categories of betting machines related to the stake and prize money available.

Members considered that the recommendation from the Association of British Bookmakers on page 30 of the draft Policy conflicted with the guidance issued on page 29 of the Policy and suggested that the paragraph be removed.

approval of revised licensing policy

The Senior Solicitor introduced this item and advised that the Licensing Policy was being revised due to a Canterbury City Council court case. He explained that Canterbury City Council had been taken to judicial review by various trading bodies as their Licensing Policy was considered too prescriptive. As Swale Borough Council's Licensing Policy was very similar to Canterbury's it was decided to revise the Policy and rephrase particular sections.

A Member requested that the word "tourism" be inserted in the Policy in paragraph 1.7. The Senior Solicitor informed Members that it was a statutory requirement to review the Licensing Policy every three years and it would therefore be reviewed again in February 2007. He considered that it would be more appropriate to insert the additional wording at this stage and undertook to consider this when the Policy was reviewed.

SS