The Licensing Committee was scheduled to convene to discuss a licensing update report, which included proposed modernisations to licensing regulations and updates to casino regulations. The committee was also scheduled to review the minutes from their previous meeting.

Licensing Update Report

The Licensing Committee was scheduled to review a report from the Director of Planning, Building Control and Licensing providing updates on general licensing matters.

The report included discussion of the Licensing Policy Sprint Joint Industry and HM Government Taskforce Report, which contains 10 priority recommendations aimed at modernising the licensing system, reducing bureaucracy, and promoting economic and cultural growth.

The recommendations included:

1. A national licensing policy framework to guide local licensing authorities, ensuring greater consistency, transparency, and proportionality in decision-making.
2. A one-time amnesty to modernise and streamline licences by reviewing and removing outdated or irrelevant conditions from existing licences.
3. Making licensing hearings more proportionate, efficient, and evidence-based.
4. Removing the hard-copy local newspaper advertising requirement.
5. Improving the potential for licensed premises to better use their outside spaces by removing regulatory barriers, improving licensing decisions, simplifying processes and achieving greater consistency. This includes removing restrictions around off sales and live music in outside spaces and consistency around the duration of pavement licences.
6. Increasing the maximum entitlement for Temporary Event Notices (TENs) for licensed premises.
7. A 'sunset clause' on blanket hours policies that restrict certain licensed activities within a specific or local authority area.
8. An arbitration, evidence and data protocol for licensing decisions.
9. A review of licence length and fees for festivals and removing large event multipliers to support long term investment and operational stability.
10. Making the agent of change principle a factor that must be considered when making licensing decisions. This principle protects existing venues from complaints or restrictions arising due to new developments nearby.

The report also included updates to casino regulations, including changes to gaming machine allowances and space requirements. The key changes introduced were:

• Converted casinos can now offer up to 80 gaming machines (previously capped at 20), subject to size and layout requirements.
• A sliding scale links machine entitlement to gambling area size and proportional non-gambling/table gaming space.
• Small 2005 Act casinos' machine-to-table ratio increased from 2:1 to 5:1, aligning with large casinos.
• Minimum table gaming area for small 2005 Act casinos reduced from 500m² to 250m².
• Converted casinos introducing extended machine entitlements must maintain table and non-gambling areas equal to the lesser of 250m² or half the gambling area.
• All converted casinos now have a maximum gambling area cap of 1,500m², with limited exemptions for existing large venues.
• Betting is now permitted in all converted casinos (previously only in small and large casinos).
• Betting positions are capped via a sliding scale.

Minutes

The minutes from the Licensing Committee meeting held on 28 April 2025 were scheduled for review. During the April meeting, the committee:

• Approved the minutes of the meeting held on 21 October 2024 as a correct record.
• Affirmed the existing arrangements as set out in the excerpts from Sections C and F of Part 3 of the Council's Constitution.
• Noted a report from the Director of Planning, Building Control and Licensing, which provided a topical update on matters related to General Licensing, including Martyn's Law¹ and the outcome of a Licence appeal for the Queens Hotel².