LICENSING COMMITTEE AGENDA - Hartlepool Borough Council

Licensing Committee – 6 th November 2012 4.4
LICENSING COMMITTEE
6 th November 2012
Report of:
Assistant Director (Regeneration & Planning)
Subject:
GAMBLING ACT STATEMENT OF LICENSING
PRINCIPLES
1. PURPOSE OF REPORT
1.1 To consider a draft Statement of Licensing Principles for the Gambling Act
2005.
2. BACKGROUND
2.1 The Gambling Act 2005 came into force in 2007 and transferred a range of
licensing responsibilities from the Gaming Board and local Magistrates Courts
to local authorities and the newly formed Gambling Commission.
2.2 Licensable activities that fall within local authority control include bingo halls,
betting shops, amusement arcades and casinos.
2.3 Amongst other things, the Gambling Act 2005 requires licensing authorities to
publish, every three years, a statement of the principles that they propose to
apply in exercising their functions under the Act – commonly referred to as a
licensing policy.
2.4 Hartlepool’s current licensing policy was published in January 2010 and, as
such, a new policy must be published no later than January 2013.
2.5 The current policy (available as Appendix 1) meets the requirements of the
Act’s statutory guidance and follows closely a best practice licensing policy
initially produced by the Local Authority Co-ordinating Body for Regulatory
Services (LACORS).
2.6 As there has been no national or local developments that would necessitate a
change to the current policy Licensing Committee determined at its meeting
on 17 th July 2012 that it would be appropriate for it to be retained for a further
three years, subject to the result of consultation at a local and national level.
2.7 The consultation period ended on 8 th October 2012 and one response was
received from the British Beer & Pub Association. The response was a
4.4 Licensing 12.11.06 Gambling act statement of licensing principles HARTLEPOOL BOROUGH COUNCIL
1