Agenda and minutes

To declare any personal/prejudicial interests for the purpose of Section 81(3) of the Local Government Act 2000 and paragraphs 8 to 13 of the Members Code of Conduct

Councillor  Anderson declared personal interests in respect of the following items:-

Agenda Item 7 (Minute No.36 refers) – Scrutiny Inquiry ‘Narrowing the Gap’ (Lead Member on ‘Narrowing the Gap’)

Agenda Item 8 (Minute No.37 refers) – Leeds Statement  of Gambling Policy (Chair of Leeds Casino Advisory Group)

To confirm as a correct record the enclosed minutes of the meeting held on 4^th September 2006.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 4^th September 2006 be confirmed as a correct record.

To receive and consider proposed Terms of Reference for the Committee’s Inquiry.

To consider initial written evidence.

To discuss the Inquiry with Councillor Mark Harris,Leader of the Council.

Further to Minute No 16, 3^rd July 2006, the Committee considered reports submitted by the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development and the Director of Neighbourhoods and Housing relating to the Council’s ‘Narrowing the Gap’ objective, and received evidence from the Leader of the Council and Council Officers in this regard.

In attendance at the meeting were Councillor Mark Harris, Leader of the Council, Sue Wynne and Stephen Boyle (Neighbourhoods and Housing) and Martin Gray (Chief Executive’s Department).  A written summary of evidence received is attached to the minutes.

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the proposed Terms of Reference for the Committee’s Inquiry be approved.

(b)  That the Chair be nominated as this Committee’s representative to be co-opted onto the ‘Narrowing the Gap’ Project Group for the duration of the Inquiry.

(NB: Councillor Grahame joined the meeting at 10.00 am during the consideration of this item)

Further to Minute No.28,4^th September 2006,in line with the Council’s Budget and Policy Framework,to receive and formally comment upon the Council’s draft Statement of Gambling Policy.

Further to Minute No 28, 4^th September 2006, the Director of Legal and Democratic Services submitted a report outlining the results of the public consultation regarding the Council’s draft Statement of Gambling Policy and enclosing a revised draft version of the Policy Statement, which would now be submitted to the Executive Board on 15^th November and Full Council on 13^th December 2006 for approval. The Council’s Policy had to be published by 3^rd January 2007.

In attendance at the meeting were Nicola Raper and Anne Marie Pollard (Legal Services) and Steve Speak and Colin Mawhinney (Development Department).  In brief summary, the main areas of discussion were:-

• On 4 September, Overview and Scrutiny Committee had received and considered a preliminary report on the Statement of Gambling Policy.

At this stage the Committee made some initial observations which were forwarded to officers and the Leader of Council.

The Committee’s greatest concern had been the seemingly limited range of those who had been consulted on the draft policy.  Whilst acknowledging that some of its concerns might be alleviated when the full list of those who had been consulted  was available, the Committee felt that, as the document stood at that stage, it appeared that some key partners had not been consulted, particularly, District Partnerships, Area Committees, PCTs and faith organisations. 

The Committee had stressed that its wish to see these bodies consulted was not in any way a statement of whether the Committee did or did not support the provision of Casinos, but a feeling that the absence of views from these organisations weakened the legitimacy of the policy.

It was also the Committee’s view that consultation should not end with the publication of the policy, but should continue throughout the life of the document including during any review of its effectiveness.

• The Committee considered  an updated report on the Draft Statement of Gambling Policy against the above background.  This report included the results of the consultation on the draft policy.

A number of issues emerged from these discussions.  Whilst satisfied that further consultation work had been undertaken, a key concern of the Committee remained the need for the Council to establish robust mechanisms to ensure a continuing dialogue with those who may wish to comment on gambling.  The Committee was not convinced that these mechanisms were in place.

• Members also had concerns that the provisions of the Act itself limited the Council’s ability to exercise its legitimate role of promoting community wellbeing.

The key concepts of the Act, i.e. the licensing objectives of the Act are:

·  preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime,

·  ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way, and

·  protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

The most common local issues such as nuisance, general disorder and public safety are not within the scope of the objectives, and therefore the Licensing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

To receive and consider the enclosed report of the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development regarding the Committee’s work programme,together with a relevant extract from the Council’s Forward Plan of Key Decisions and the minutes of the Executive Board meeting held on 20^th September 2006.

The Head of Scrutiny and Member Development submitted the Committee’s work programme, updated to reflect decisions taken at previous meetings, together with a relevant extract of the Council’s Forward Plan of Key Decisions and a copy of the minutes of the Executive Board meeting held on 20^th September 2006.

With reference to the ‘Narrowing the Gap’ Inquiry, Members felt that as part of the ‘Obtaining the Community Perspective’ element, it would be helpful to go out into different locations and obtain residents views, perhaps by establishing small working groups for each identified area, which could then feed their views into the main Inquiry.  It was agreed that the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development should liaise with OSC Members to develop this idea.

RESOLVED – That the Committee’s work programme be approved and accepted.

Monday 6^th November 2006

Monday 4^th December 2006

Monday 8^th January 2007

Monday 5^th February 2007

Monday 5^th March 2007

Monday 2^nd April 2007

All at 10.00 am (Pre-meetings at 9.30 am)

Monday 6^th November 2006

Monday 4^th December 2006

Monday 8^th January 2007

Monday 5^th February 2007

Monday 5^th March 2007

Monday 2^nd April 2007

All at 10.00 am (pre-meetings at 9.30 am)