To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 19 March 2021.

Decision

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 19 March 2021

The report of the Director of Planning, Building Control and Licensing is enclosed.

The Committee considered a draft revised Gambling Policy report.

The recommendation within the report requested that the policy is approved for public consultation.

The Principal Licensing Officer presented the report, stating that the updated Policy was similar in nature to the previous version, with new inclusions aimed at tackling overall harm reduction from gambling. The Principal Licensing Officer stated that funding was received for a 3 year program of work concerning “Gambling Harm Reduction,” that GMP had been closely involved in the consultation and that all Greater Manchester authorities had their Gambling Policies due for renewal at the same time and that there had been a collaborative approach across Greater Manchester. The Principal Licensing Officer referred to Section 2 of the report for information on a stronger link with public health and risk assessments and requested that the Committee approve the draft report for public consultation, adding that the version proper would come into effect in January 2022.

The Committee welcomed the report and the inclusion of the harm reduction aspect.

The Chair stated that he had concerns around the trade having input into the consultation for the matter to then be passed to Local Authorities to regulate and gave mention to the criminal element that can arise from gambling addiction.

Decision

The Committee approved the Revised Gambling Policy for public consultation.