Stockton-on-Tees Draft Gambling Statement of Principles

Enforcement and Hearings

The Authority has established a Statutory Licensing Committee to administer the wide range of licensing decisions and functions it is responsible for. Appreciating the need to provide a speedy, efficient and cost-effective service to all parties involved in the licensing process, the Committee has established a Sub-Committee and delegated certain decisions and functions.

Many of the decisions and functions will be purely administrative in nature and the grant of non-contentious applications, including for example, those licences and permits where no representations have been made, will be delegated to Authority officers.

This form of delegation is without prejudice to officers referring an application to a Sub-Committee or Full Committee, or Full Authority if considered appropriate in the circumstances of any particular case.

The Sub-Committee of three Councillors will sit to hear applications where representations have been received from interested parties and responsible authorities. Ward Councillors will not sit on a Sub-Committee involving an application within their ward.

Where a Councillor who is a member of the Licensing Sub-Committee is making or has made representations regarding a licence on behalf of an interested party, in the interests of good governance they will disqualify themselves from any involvement in the decision making process affecting the licence in question.

The Licensing Sub-Committee will also refer to the Licensing Committee any matter it is unable to deal with because of the number of its members who are unable to take part in the consideration or discussion of any matter or vote on any question with respect to it.

Every determination of a licensing decision by the Licensing Committee or a Licensing Sub-Committee shall be accompanied by clear, cogent reasons for the decision. The decision and the reasons for that decision will be sent to the applicant and those who have made relevant representations as soon as practicable. A summary of the decision shall also be posted on the Authority's website as soon as possible after the decision has been confirmed, where it will form part of the statutory licensing register required to be kept by the Authority.

The Authority's licensing officers will deal with all other licensing applications either where no representations have been received, or where representations have been received and withdrawn, or it is agreed by the parties that a hearing is not necessary.

"Frivolous" or "vexatious" representations need not be taken into consideration by the Authority, matters which this Licensing Authority may consider in deciding whether a representation is frivolous or vexatious include the following:

• who is making the representation and whether there is a history of making applications that are not relevant
• whether it raises a relevant issue
• whether it raises issues specifically to do with the premises that are the subject of the application
• where representations are rejected, the person making the representation will be given written reasons as to why this is the case. There is no right of appeal against a determination that representations are not admissible

Responsible Authorities

Responsible authorities are public bodies that must be notified of applications and are entitled to make representations to the licensing authority in relation to applications for, and in relation to, premises licences.

The Licensing Authority is required by regulations to state the principles it will apply in exercising its powers under Section 157(h) of the Act to designate, in writing, a body which is competent to advise the authority about the protection of children from harm. The principles are:

• the need for the body to be responsible for an area covering the whole of the Licensing Authority's area
• the need for the body to be answerable to democratically elected persons, rather than any particular vested interest group

In accordance with the suggestion in the Gambling Commission's Guidance for local authorities, this authority designates the Local Safeguarding Children Board for this purpose.

The Responsible Authorities are:

• The Authority
• The Gambling Commission
• The Chief Officer of Police or Chief Constable
• The Authority's Planning Department
• The Authority's Environmental Protection team
• The Local Safeguarding Children Board

The contact details of for the Responsible Authorities are attached at Appendix 1.

Interested Parties

Interested parties can also make representation to the licensing authority in relation to applications for, and in relation to, premises licences. A person is an interested party in relation to an application for, or in respect of, a premises licence if, in the opinion of the Authority:

• the person lives sufficiently close to the premises to be likely to be affected by the authorised activities
• has business interests that might be affected by the authorised activities
• or represents persons who satisfy paragraph (a) or (b)

When determining whether a person is an interested party, the Authority will apply the following principles:

• each case will be decided upon its merits
• the authority will not apply a rigid rule to its decision making
• the authority will consider the examples of considerations provided in the Guidance
• the authority will also consider the Guidance that the term "business interests" should be given the widest possible interpretation and include partnerships, charities, faith groups and medical practices

Interested parties can be persons who are democratically elected such as Councillors and MPs. No specific evidence of being asked to represent an interested person will be required as long as the Councilors represents the ward likely to be affected. Likewise, Parish Councillors likely to be affected will be interested parties. Other than these however, this authority will generally require written evidence that a person or body (for example, an advocate or relative) 'represents' someone who either lives sufficiently close to the premises to be likely to be affected by the authorised activities, and has business interests that might be affected by the authorised activities.

A letter from one of these persons, requesting the representation is sufficient. If individuals wish to approach Councillor to ask them to represent their views, then care should be taken that the Councillor are not part of the Licensing Committee dealing with the licence application. If there are any doubts then please contact the Licensing Team.

Anyone wishing to make a representation concerning an application will be required to relate their objection to one or more of the licensing objectives, as specified in Part A of this statement.

Enforcement

Licensing authorities are required by regulation under the Gambling Act 2005 to state the principles to be applied by the authority in exercising the functions under Part 15 of the Act with respect to the inspection of premises; and the powers under section 346 of the Act to institute criminal proceedings in respect of the offences specified. This Licensing Authority's principles will be guided by the Commission's Guidance for local authorities and will be:

• proportionate - regulators should only intervene when necessary, remedies should be appropriate to the risk posed, and costs identified and minimised
• accountable - regulators must be able to justify decisions, and be subject to public scrutiny
• consistent - rules and standards must be joined up and implemented fairly
• transparent - regulators should be open, and keep regulations simple and user friendly
• targeted - regulation should be focused on the problem and minimise side effects

As per the Commission's Guidance for local authorities this Licensing Authority will endeavour to avoid duplication with other regulatory regimes so far as possible and as recommended by the Commission's Guidance adopt a risk-based inspection programme. The main enforcement and compliance role for this Licensing Authority in terms of the Gambling Act 2005 will be to ensure compliance with the Premises Licences and other permissions which it authorises, concerns about manufacture, supply or repair of gaming machines will not be dealt with by the Licensing Authority but will be notified to the Commission.

This Authority will have regard to the Statutory Regulator's Code which came into force in April 2014. We support the principle of better regulation to promote efficient, proportionate and effective approaches to enforcement and inspection and policy formulation that improve regulatory outcomes without imposing unnecessary burdens on business. A copy of the Regulators Code can be found on GOV.UK.

Read the Stockton Borough Authority's Corporate Enforcement Policy.

This Authority acknowledges the Primary Authority Scheme. This scheme allows businesses to be involved in their own regulation. It enables them to form a statutory partnership with one local authority, which then provides robust and reliable advice for other local regulators to consider when carrying out inspections or addressing non-compliance. Where there is a Primary Authority Arrangement in place between a business operator and a local authority no enforcement action will be taken before consultation with the Primary Authority. Further information on the scheme and an up to date list of arrangements can be accessed on the Gambling Commission website.

In relation to the underage gambling controls, this Licensing Authority will follow the Better Regulation Delivery Office Code of Practice for Age Restricted Products and Services. We will consider the use of test purchase checks with young volunteers where there is evidence that it is necessary and proportionate to do so and will work in conjunction with the Commission where appropriate.

In relation to self-exclusion procedures, this Licensing Authority will consider the use of test purchase exercise where there is evidence that it is necessary to do so and will work in conjunction with the Commission where appropriate.

The Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO) Regulators' Code has been considered in order to promote proportionate, consistent and targeted regulatory activity through the development of transparent and effective dialogue and understanding between the licensing authority and the trade.

Reviews

Requests for a review of a premises licence can be made by interested parties or responsible authorities, however, it is for the licensing authority to decide whether the review is to be carried out. In deciding whether to carry out a review the Authority will have regard to the Guidance, this statement of principles and the relevancy of the request with the licensing objectives.

The request for the review will also be subject to the consideration by the authority as to whether the request is frivolous, vexatious, or whether it will certainly not cause this authority to wish to alter, revoke, suspend the licence, or whether it is substantially the same as previous representations or requests for review.

The licensing authority can also initiate a review of a particular premises licence, or a particular class of premises licence on the basis of any reason which it thinks is appropriate.

Once a valid application for a review has been received, representations can be made by responsible authorities and interested parties during a 28 day period. This period begins 7 days after the application was received by the licensing authority, who will publish notice of the application within 7 days of receipt.

Reviews will be carried out as soon as possible after the 28-day period for making representations has passed. The purpose of the review will be to determine whether the licensing authority should take any action in relation to the licence. If action is justified, the options open to the licensing authority are:

• add, remove or amend a licence condition imposed by the licensing authority
• exclude a default condition imposed by the Secretary of State (for example, opening hours) or remove or amend such an exclusion
• suspend the premises licence for a period not exceeding three months
• revoke the premises licence

In determining what action, if any, should be taken following a review, the licensing authority must have regard to the principles set out in section 153 of the Act, as well as any relevant representations. In particular, the licensing authority may also initiate a review of a premises licence on the grounds that a premises licence holder has not provided facilities for gambling at the premises. This is to prevent people from applying for licences in a speculative manner without intending to use them.

Once the review has been completed, the licensing authority must, as soon as possible, notify its decision to:

• the licence holder
• the applicant for review (if any)
• The Commission
• any person who made representations
• The Chief Officer of Police or Chief Constable
• Her Majesty's Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Enforcement

Licensing authorities are required by regulation under the Gambling Act 2005 to state the principles to be applied by the authority in exercising the functions under Part 15 of the Act with respect to the inspection of premises; and the powers under section 346 of the Act to institute criminal proceedings in respect of the offences specified. With respect to exercising the functions under Part 15 of the Act with regards to the inspection of premises, the Authority will have regard to the Guidance and, in doing so, will endeavour to be:

• proportionate - regulators should only intervene when necessary: remedies should be appropriate to the risk posed, and costs identified and minimised
• accountable - regulators must be able to justify decisions, and be subject to public scrutiny
• consistent - rules and standards must be joined up and implemented fairly
• transparent - regulators should be open, and keep regulations simple and user friendly
• targeted - regulation should be focused on the problem and minimise side effects

The main enforcement and compliance role for this licensing authority in terms of the Act is to ensure compliance with the premises licences and other permissions which it authorises. The Gambling Commission is the enforcement body for the operating and personal licences. It is also worth noting that concerns about manufacture, supply or repair of gaming machines are also the responsibility of the Gambling Commission.

Complaints about Licensed Premises

The Authority will investigate complaints against licensed premises in relation to matters relating to the licensing objectives for which it has responsibility. In the first instance, complainants are encouraged to raise the complaint directly with the licence holder or business concerned to seek a local resolution. Where an interested party has made either a valid representation about licensed premises or a valid application for a licence review, the Licensing Authority may initially arrange a conciliation meeting to address and clarify the issues of concern.

This process will not override the right of any interested party to ask that the Licensing Committee consider their valid objections or for any licence holder to decline to participate in a conciliation meeting.

Variations to Licensed Premises

Should the authority receive an application to vary a premises licence for a bingo or betting in order to extend the opening hours, then in accordance with the Commission Guidance this authority will need to be satisfied that the reason for the application is in line with the requirements on primary gambling activity (for example, the need for operating licence holders to ensure that the gambling activity is appropriate to the licence type ("the primary activity" or "the principal activity") is actually offered at those premises and not replaced by the making available of gaming machines)). Therefore the applicants will be expected to demonstrate that the extension of the opening hours is not designed solely to benefit from the machine entitlement which is an activity ancillary to the primary activity of the premises, namely betting or bingo.