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A number of minor amendments have been made to the
existing policy in light of changes to legislation and statutory
guidance and have been incorporated in a draft revised statement of
licensing policy. The Authority is currently consulting with many
parties based on the draft document with the closing date for
receipt of observations being 29th October 2007. Following this, a
report and the revised document will be submitted to the
Council’s Executive followed by the County Council in
December 2007.
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Members were given the opportunity to question the
Principal Trading Standards Officer for clarification purposes on
the policy. The Portfolio Member thanked the Officer for the
efficient and successful way he has dealt with all Licensing
issues.
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3.1
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to note the consultation period is
ongoing;
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3.2
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that the Committee accepted the revised Policy as
part of the consultation process.
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4
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LICENSING ACT 2003 - REVISED GUIDANCE
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The Principal Trading Standards Officer reported, for
information purposes, on the revised guidance issued by the
Secretary of state under S182 of the Licensing Act 2003 and
highlighted the importance of Members having regard to this
guidance when making Licensing Act 2003 decisions.
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The original guidance was issued in July 2004 and along
with the legislation formed the basis of action and advice under
the Act. A number of criticisms arose, amongst them the inference
that it over emphasised the importance of extending hours and
failed to adequately take into account the views of the local
communities in such cases. As a result, the Government committed
itself to an early review of the guidance and published revised
guidance in the summer of 2006 and June 2007. The Chairman stated
the Licensing Panels had, in his view, considered all maters justly
from both angles and in accordance with the four licensing
objectives.
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RESOLVED to accept the revised and updated guidance
and to note that where particular paragraphs of the guidance
are relevant to individual applications being considered in
Hearings by the Licensing Panel, details of the relevant
guidance will be sent out as part of the Report to the
Panel.
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The Principal Trading Standards Officer introduced his
report updating Members on the Authority’s progress with the
transition and implementation of the Gambling Act 2005 which came
fully into force in September 2007.
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The report outlined the types of premises licences
included under the Act together with the issue of permits and
registrations. To date, the department has received transition
applications for 6 betting shops and one bingo premises licence.
The department is also receiving a number of applications for
permits for gaming machines in pubs and new lottery registrations.
Further work will be required on small lotteries in December as all
lottery registrations will need to be converted.
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RESOLVED to accept the report and note the
contents.
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6 GAMBLING ACT 2005 - HEARING PROCEDURES
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Submitted for consideration, the proposed Hearing
Procedures under the Gambling Act 2005.
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The Principal Trading Standards Officer reported that
although the Regulations are based on the same principles as those
used for the Licensing Act 2003, there are some slight differences
and therefore a new set of procedures have been developed. Whilst
most of the changes are administrative the most specific change is
the right of all parties to question, where reasonable, other
parties at Hearings. It was acknowledged that this would require
strict oversight of the proceedings by the Chair at any
Hearing.
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RESOLVED to formally adopt the set of
procedures for the Gambling Act 2005 Hearings.
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COUNCILLOR JOHN ARTHUR JONES
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