This meeting was about approving a new Statement of Licensing Policy for the next five years and a new Gambling Act Statement of Principles for the next three. The reports pack contains the policies themselves, and describes the process that was due to be followed for their approval. The document also includes draft minutes of a prior meeting of the committee held on 9 October 2024.

New Statement of Licensing Policy

The Licensing Act 2003 requires councils to adopt a policy that they will use when making decisions about the granting of licenses to businesses to sell alcohol, provide late night refreshment, or put on entertainment. The new draft Statement of Licensing Policy 2025-2030 that was provided to attendees includes a pool of model conditions that the council can use when setting the terms of licences. The report pack also describes the process for adopting the new policy, which included consulting with a list of 'responsible authorities' like the Police and Fire Brigade, local businesses, and local residents. The consultation on the draft policy took place between 23 October and 20 November 2024. Two responses were received during the consultation, one from the Portman Group, a social responsibility body and regulator for alcohol labelling, packaging and promotion in the UK, and one from the local Planning Authority. The Portman group asked for text to be included in the policy to say that the council will encourage retailers in the area to sign up to and abide by Portman Group's Retailer Alert Bulletins to remove irresponsible products and promotions. The local Planning Authority pointed out that references to the 'Executive' in the draft policy should be updated to 'Cabinet', because the Executive committee was replaced with the Cabinet in June 2024. They also requested some other wording changes to the document. The final draft of the policy took both of these recommendations into account.

New Gambling Act Statement of Principles

The Gambling Act 2005 requires councils to adopt a statement of principles that they will use when making decisions about the granting of licenses to businesses to provide gambling facilities. The new draft Gambling Act Statement of Principles that was provided to attendees includes a local area profile that highlights areas where the council believes that gambling premises might present a higher risk of harm. The local area profile considers the impact of gambling facilities on the most vulnerable people in the borough, including children and young people, those with mental health issues, those with substance abuse issues, and those from ethnic minorities. The report pack also describes the process for adopting the new statement of principles, which included consulting with a list of 'responsible authorities' like the Police and the Gambling Commission, businesses that provide gambling facilities, and local residents. The consultation on the statement of principles took place between 23 October and 20 November 2024. Five responses were received during the consultation. These were from GamCare, the leading provider of information, advice and support for anyone affected by gambling harms, GambleAware, an independent charity and strategic commissioner of gambling harm education, prevention, early intervention and treatment in the UK, the Hertfordshire Safeguarding Adults Board, Hertfordshire Public Health, and the Local Planning Authority. GamCare asked that Stevenage Council continue to develop its Local Area Profile approach to regulating gambling, because it believes that this approach can help the council to oppose licensing applications that might cause harm. GambleAware provided some links to interactive maps that show the local prevalence of problem gambling, and argued that additional licence requirements can be useful in mitigating risk in areas with particularly vulnerable populations. The Hertfordshire Safeguarding Adults Board provided a copy of the Hertfordshire Safeguarding Children Partnership Gambling Policy Statement. The Local Planning Authority asked that their contact details on page 61 of the statement be updated to ensure that communications relating to licensing matters are not missed going forward. Hertfordshire Public Health requested that consideration be given to the cumulative impact of gambling facilities when deciding where to grant licenses for them. The final draft of the statement took into account the recommendations made by the Local Planning Authority and the Hertfordshire Safeguarding Adults Board, but did not implement the changes requested by Hertfordshire Public Health, arguing that cumulative impact assessments are not currently authorised under the Gambling Act 2005.

Review of Hackney Carriage Tariffs

The report pack also contains the minutes of a meeting that took place on 9 October 2024. One of the items on the agenda for that meeting was the setting of new tariffs for Hackney Carriages operating in the borough. The report pack for that meeting explains that the fixing of fares for hackney carriages within Stevenage is governed by section 65 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976. The last change in fares took effect on 2 August 2023. The minutes describe the three options that were presented for setting the new fares. The first option was to increase the mileage charge only. The second option was to increase the start price and the mileage charge. The third option was to make no change to the tariffs. The committee ultimately decided to increase both the initial fare and the mileage charges.