Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors Jason Baker, Jenny Kenton, Tony Lock, Connor Payne and Diogo Rodrigues.

To approve the minutes from the previous meeting.

Resolved that the minutes of the Licensing and Regulatory Committee held on 14 September 2023 be confirmed as a correct record.

To receive and note any declarations of interests in respect of any matters included on the agenda for consideration at this meeting.

(The other registrable interests of Councillors of Somerset Council, arising from membership of City, Town or Parish Councils and other Local Authorities will automatically be recorded in the minutes: City, Town & Parish Twin Hatters - Somerset Councillors 2023 )

Councillorspresent atthe meetingdeclared thefollowing personalinterests in their capacity as a Councillor of a Town or Parish Council or any other Local Authority:-

Councillors Carswell and Kravis further declared personal interests as Gambling License Holders.

Councillors Davies and Robbins further declared a personal interest as Personal Licence Holders.

Councillor Kravis declared that he had submitted a consultation response.

The Chair to advise the Committee of any items on which members of the public have requested to speak and advise those members of the public present of the details of the Council’s public participation scheme.

For those members of the public who have submitted any questions or statements, please note, a three minute time limit applies to each speaker and you will be asked to speak before Councillors debate the issue.

We are now live webcasting most of our committee meetings and you are welcome to view and listen to the discussion. The link to each webcast will be available on the meeting webpage, please see details under ‘click here to join online meeting’.

There were no public questions submitted.

The Committee is asked to consider the consultation comments made regarding the Gambling Policy, recommend any amendments, and recommend the final draft of the Policy for approval by Full Council.

The Licensing and Fraud Manager, Alan Weldon, presented the report on the Statement of Principles for the Gambling Policy and detailed some of the consultation responses.  He further advised the Committee of some upcoming changes to gambling legislation proposed by Government to be included in a White Paper.

During the discussion, the following points were raised:-

·       Councillors queried what an UFEC was.

The Licensing and Fraud Manager advised that it was an unlicensed family entertainment centre.

·       Councillors stated that the Policy was a good, balanced strategic overview of the Statement of Principles.

·       Councillors agreed that the Policy ensured that licence holders complied with legislation and guided them on correct protocols to follow.

·       Concern was raised on whether licence holders should be responsible for obtaining electrical safety certificates along with the fire safety certificates, as the guidance varied on each policy.

The Licensing and Fraud Manager advised that the reason it was not a requirement for all policies, was that it was for each responsible authority to check for compliance in their own areas of expertise.

·       Concern was raised that the consultation response rate was low.

·       Councillors thanked the officers for all their hard work and the consultees for their responses submitted.

Resolved that the Licensing and Regulatory Committee considered the consultation comments made regarding the Gambling Policy, recommended any amendments, and recommended the final draft of the Policy for approval by Full Council. The Policy (Statement of Principles) was for approval of a non-executive function and could, therefore, only be exercised by Full Council.

The Licensing and Regulatory Committee are asked to note the minutes of the Sub-Committees.

The Chair of Committee thanked all of the councillors that had taken part in the Sub-Committees and reminded committee members to respond to the requests from officers.

The Committee noted that the minutes of the Licensing and Regulatory Sub-Committees held on 9 August 2023 and 6 September 2023, be confirmed as a correct record.