Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Farida Anwar and Cllr Dee Sinclair.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Head of Community Services has submitted a report which details the progress made by the Licensing Authority under the Licensing Act 2003 and Gambling Act 2005 during the current Council Year (April – August 2015).

Officer Recommendation(s): 

That the Licensing and Gambling Acts Committee resolves to:

1.         note the contents of the report; and

2.         make any comments and recommendations regarding the future work of the Licensing Function.

The Head of Community Services submitted a report (previously circulated, now appended) which detailed the progress made by the Licensing Authority under the Licensing Act 2003 and Gambling Act 2005 during the current Council Year (April – August 2015).

The Licensing Manager presented the report and drew attention to:

·         the high level of enforcement activity

·         the list of notable achievements set out at paragraphs 32 – 40

·         that the levels of activity were similar to last year.

The Committee resolved to NOTE the contents of the report.

The Head of Community Services has submitted a report which details a Draft Revised Statement of Licensing Policy for public consultation.

Appendix 3 - the response from Thames Valley Police for the continuation of the Special Saturation Policies (SSP’s) will be published in a supplement to this agenda in advance of the meeting.

Officer Recommendations(s): That the Licensing and Gambling Acts Committee resolves to:

1.    consider the amendments to the Statement of Licensing Policy as set out in Appendix One;

2.    agree the Draft Revised Statement of Licensing Policy for consultation;

3.    retain the existing Special Saturation Policies for the City Centre and Cowley Road;

4.    agree the consultation programme as laid out in the report.

The Head of Community Services submitted a report (previously circulated, now appended) which presented a Draft Revised Statement of Licensing Policy for public consultation.

The Licensing Manager presented the report and explained that this was the scheduled 5 year review of the Statement of Licensing Policy and that the changes sought to take account of all new legislation and provide clarification on some points of detail.  The Committee noted that the Licensing Authority had no power to regulate the sale of high strength alcohol but by providing guidance within the Policy on what was expected or preferred it would allow the Council the flexibility to impose licensing conditions where necessary.

The Committee resolved to

1.    note the amendments to the Statement of Licensing Policy as set out in Appendix One;

2.    agree the Draft Revised Statement of Licensing Policy for consultation;

3.    retain the existing Special Saturation Policies for the City Centre and Cowley Road;

4.    agree the consultation programme as laid out in the report.

The Head of Community Services has submitted a report which details the revised draft Statement of Gambling Licensing Policy for public consultation.

Officer recommendation(s):

That the Licensing and Gambling Acts Committee resolves to:

1.    Agree that a 6 week consultation be held on renewing the revised draft Statement of Gambling Licensing Policy; and

2.    Recommend to Council to resolve to adopt the revised draft Statement of Gambling Licensing Policy effective from 31 January 2016 (subject to any relevant representations being received within the consultation deadline to be reviewed by the Chair and Vice-Chair of this Committee) on the basis that a further review of the Policy will be undertaken following new Guidance from the Gambling Commission being issued.

The Head of Community Services submitted a report (previously circulated, now appended) which presented a Draft Revised Statement of Gambling Licensing Policy for public consultation.

The Licensing Manager presented the report and explained that this was the scheduled 3 year review of the Statement of Gambling Licensing Policy.  He explained that new guidance from the Gambling Commission was expected in 2016 and so this revision was a light touch refresh to meet legal requirements.  A further review of the Statement of Gambling Licensing Policy would take place in 2016 and would be brought to the Committee in the autumn.

In discussion the Committee agreed that the “No Casino” resolution should be retained.

The Committee resolved to:

1.    Agree that a 6 week consultation be held on renewing the revised draft Statement of Gambling Licensing Policy; and

2.    Recommend to Council to resolve to adopt the revised draft Statement of Gambling Licensing Policy effective from 31 January 2016 (subject to any relevant representations being received within the consultation deadline to be reviewed by the Chair and Vice-Chair of this Committee) on the basis that a further review of the Policy will be undertaken following new guidance from the Gambling Commission being issued.

Minutes from 19 May 2015

Recommendation: That the minutes of the meeting held on 19 May 2015 be APPROVED as a true and accurate record.

The Committee resolved to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 19 May 2015 as a true and accurate record.

Meetings are scheduled as follows:

26 January 2016

19 May 2016

The Committee noted the dates of the future meetings:

26 January 2016

19 May 2016

Secretary’s note:  Following the meeting of the General Purposes Licensing Committee the Chairs of both Committees agreed to write to all Committee members to propose a revised start time for future meetings.