Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of this Committee held on 22 July 2015.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 23 June 2015 were approved as a true and correct record and signed by the Chairman, subject to the following alteration:

Councillor Quentin Webb highlighted that the agenda referred to a meeting on the 22 July 2015 but that this should read the 23 June 2015.

To remind Members of the need to record the existence and nature of any Personal, Disclosable Pecuniary or other interests in items on the agenda, in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct.

There were no declarations of interest received.

Purpose: To inform Members of the requirement for mandatory training on disability awareness, safe transportation of wheelchair passengers and child sexual exploitation prevention and the need for a consultation on the introduction of this training with all stakeholders.

Brian Leahy introduced the item (Agenda Item 4) which sought approval from the Committee for Officers to conduct a consultation exercise with taxi trade groups, the general public and disability lobby groups on the introduction of mandatory training for all taxi drivers on disability awareness, manual handling and child sexual exploitation awareness (the latter topic suggested by the Thames Valley Police who were undertaking a national campaign to raise awareness).

The existing policy had been in place for the last few years and required drivers to undertake disability awareness training before being issued with a new licence. As driver licences were issued for a three year period, this meant that all the drivers would have attended the training within a three year period from the introduction of the condition in March 2010.

The training was provided by the council and included a hands-on demonstration of the correct way to load and secure wheelchair passengers in taxis.

Trade Liaison Group consultation and the presentation made to the Disability Scrutiny Board by Mr Leahy was intended to demonstrate  that the council took its  responsibilities for training under the Equalities Act seriously and to ensure that the Licensing  Authority was not discriminating against any protected  group..

Mr Leahy informed Members that the intention was to formulate proposals after consultation on mandatory training every three years to be provided by two Council Officers and a Police representative. The intention was to make the process more robust by considering the training package completed only after drivers were examined at the end of the course, using questions selected at random regarding disability awareness.

Mr Leahy explained that they were planning to ensure that a venue was identified to allow drivers to be trained using their own vehicles. He added that a newsletter was distributed with answers from a survey regarding disabilities as the intention was to implement suggestions from this survey into the training (but there was a need to consult first if the Council were to incorporate the recommendations).

Mr Leahy reminded Members that all the details on the proposed consultation were included in the report in the agenda pack and that it was proposed to start the consultation immediately, subject to Committee approval.

The Chairman invited comments or questions from the Members of the Committee.

Councillor Linden pointed out that it was very important to implement the suggested measures. He referred to the training sessions that Members had on the similar topic, provided by the Children and Families Service and enquired if the Children and Families Service and Adult Social Care Service Officers had been consulted, including on Child Sexual Exploitation awareness (especially as the Communities Director Rachael Wardell was eager that everyone was involved in this agenda).

Mr Leahy informed that his service had an approach on what the training should include. As part of the training delivery, the plan was to involve the Police as they had Officers that were very well trained in the subject matter and could play the relevant  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

Purpose: To consider the draft revision of the Statement of Licensing Policy on Gambling 2015, prior to the statutory consultation.

Ms. Emilia Matheou presented a report highlighting that under the Gambling Act 2005 the council was required to review and consult upon its Statement of Licensing Policy on Gambling every three years from the date of adoption.

Ms. Matheou highlighted amendments to the policy made following guidance issued by the Gambling Commission’s Licensing Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) and the Local Government Association in early 2015. These amendments were shown as tracked changes in the existing document attached as Appendix One.

Ms. Matheou indicated that one of the changes was in relation to requirements for a ‘Local Risk Assessment’. This placed a responsibility on licensees to assess the local risks to the licensing objectives posed by the provision of gambling facilities at each of their premises, to have policies, procedures and control measures to mitigate those risks and to submit the assessment when an application for a licence or variation was required.

Ms. Matheou informed Members that the other change related to a Local Area Profile - an assessment of local risks and concerns recommended to be produced by local authorities in the GLA Special Bulletin April 2005. The production of the profile was not mandatory and as the local authority had not done one, a paragraph was added to the Licensing Policy on Gambling to allow it to be considered in the future.

Mr Leahy informed the Committee that the document was the same policy but with added mandatory changes or changes recommended by the guidance received in 2015. The existing Gambling Policy was approved in 2012 and had stood the test of time. The original policy had been considered by a QC as ‘fit for purpose’ at the time and the new one just had the additional amendments.

Councillor Webb enquired if the revised policy gave the ability to restrict the amount of gambling establishments on the same street. Ms. Matheou responded that if the policy was not in place the local authority was not able to enforce the requirements and referred to the example of Westminster Council that employed a company to assess and use a complex method to identify where vulnerable pockets of users were located to inform such decisions.

Councillor Webb required clarification on what the triggers were for assessing if the number of gambling establishments on the same street should be restricted. Ms. Matheou stated that the trigger to assess the requirements to restrict the number of establishments was a representation received on an application.

Mr Leahy added that since the introduction of the policy in 2012 there had been no complaints received about existing gambling in an area.

Councillor Webb noted that on the draft Licensing Policy on Gambling there were other changes marked by red numberings. Ms. Matheou informed that the number of each section had to change as a result of inserting the two new sections into the document.

RESOLVED that Members considered and approved the revised version of the Statement of Licensing Policy on Gambling to be used for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

The date of the next meeting has been changed from 15 December 2015 to 26 November 2015. This is to enable the statutory public consultation and subsequent discussion at Licensing Committee about the council’s Gambling Policy to take place; prior to its submission to Full Council on 10 December 2015.

The Chairman informed the Committee that the date of the next meeting had been changed from 15 December 2015 to 26 November 2015. This was to enable the statutory public consultation and subsequent discussion at Licensing Committee about the council’s Gambling Policy to take place; prior to its submission to Full Council on 10 December 2015.

(Post meeting note: following discussions with the Chairman, it was agreed that the meeting date would be re-arranged again and would now take place on the 10^th November 2015).