Agenda and minutes

Councillor Chantal Lee has resigned from the Committee

The Committee noted that Councillor Chantal Lee has resigned from the Committee.

Councillor Rebecca Langton  -  on leave

None.

Minutes of the meeting held on 23 October 2018, for confirmation

The minutes of the meeting held on 23 October 2018 were confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

Report of the Director of Community Protection

Melanie Bird, Licensing Compliance Manager, presented a report on the draft Statement of Gambling Policy 2022-25. The following points were discussed:

(a)  the Council is required to produce and publish a Statement of Gambling Policy for a three-year period. A new Statement for 2022-25 is being produced and will come into effect from 31 January 2022. The Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods, Safety and Inclusion has released the draft Statement for public consultation from 8 August to 10 September, and the Licensing Committee is a required consultee. Following the conclusion of the consultation process, the final Statement will be brought to the full Council meeting on 8 November for approval;

(b)  currently, there are six licensed casinos in the city. There is a statutory limit on the number of new Casino Licences that can be granted nationally. The Council has not submitted a bid to enable it to award any further licences, so it is not possible for a new Casino Licence to be granted in the city under the current legislation. Nevertheless, the Council had passed a resolution that it would not grant any further licenses for casinos during the period of the current Statement, and it is proposed to renew this resolution for the period of the new Statement;

(c)  the Committee considered that the resolution to grant no further Casino Licenses should be renewed. It noted that the current policy seeks to ensure that the existing casinos cannot admit anyone below the age of 18, and that children are not targeted by related advertising. However, the results of an adult’s gambling may have an effect on both themselves and the physical and mental health and wellbeing of their families, so the Council should be aware of the wider impacts of gambling on the health of vulnerable people;

(d)  physical licensed gambling establishments in the city have a part to play in mitigating these impacts but, due to the widespread availability of online gambling, it is difficult to create a precise assessment of the effects of the licensed premises upon public health. The Council’s role regarding the licensing of casinos is in relation to the premises only, as operators that are licensed and regulated by the Gambling Commission. Casinos are regulated by the Council in a coherent manner, with regular compliance checks carried out, and are managed effectively by their operators in adhering to the terms of their licenses, including keeping records of all people who seek and are denied entry.

Resolved to note the draft Statement of Gambling Policy 2022-25, and to support the renewal of the ‘no casino’ resolution.

Report of the Director of Community Protection

Pete Mitchell, Head of Regulation, presented a report on the review of the current Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) of licensed premises. The following points were discussed:

(a)  the current CIA was published in October 2018. The three-yearly statutory review process is being carried out and the CIA has been updated to reflect the current statistical data and information. It is a requirement that the draft CIA is released by the Licensing Committee for public consultation, which is proposed to take place from 11 August to 10 September, to inform a final CIA to be brought back to the Committee for adoption at its meeting on 4 October;

(b)  based on the review and following consultation with Nottinghamshire Police, it is proposed to maintain the City Centre Saturation Zone (first created in July 2005) and the Berridge, Arboretum and Radford Saturation Zone (first created in January 2014). The Berridge, Arboretum and Radford zone was created primarily to restrict the concentration of off-licenses as a means of addressing public health concerns and anti-social behaviour, as the sale of very strong alcohol at cheap prices has been a problem for the area;

(c)  the City Centre zone is intended to restrict off-licenses and establishments where a primary purpose is to sell high volumes of alcohol, to seek to limit anti-social behaviour and crime. In order to ensure that the city centre is a good environment for people to visit and enjoy, this policy promotes more mixed premises with a wider offer than solely high-volume alcohol sales. There are approximately 429 licensed premises in the city centre, which represents an 8% increase since 2018 (rather than the 22% increase as stated currently in the draft CIA, which will be corrected before it is published for consultation);

(d)  the designation of a Saturation Zone does not ban the granting of any new licenses within the area. Licenses to sell alcohol may still be applied for and any application will be considered on the basis of its own merits, taking proper account of current policy and any representations made in response;

(e)  the Committee considered that it is important for appropriate measures to be in place to tackle street drinking and the wider health impacts of alcohol consumption, and that the Saturation Zones have helped to maintain Nottingham’s ‘Purple Flag’ status as a safe city for a number of years.

Resolved to approve the release of the draft Cumulative Impact Assessment for public consultation.