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That
Council:
 
a)   
Adopts the draft Statement of Licensing Principles
2025-2028;
 
b)   
Delegates authority to make any minor corrections to
the Statement of Licensing Principles, to the Executive Director of
Place and Economy;  
 
c)   
Notes the recommendation of the Licensing and
Appeals Committee of 11th November 2024 and does not
make a ‘no-casino’ resolution or include the same
within the Statement of Licensing Principles
2025-2028. 
 
Reason for Decisions –
·        
The Council is required to publish a Statement of
Licensing Principles at least every three years and the current
statement expires on 30th January 2025. The Licensing
and Appeals Committee agreed to recommend the approval of the
Statement of Licensing Principles to Council. 
 
·        
The Licensing and Appeals Committee agreed to
recommend to Council that a ‘no-casino’ resolution
should not be passed. This indicates that the Council, should it be
legally permitted to accept applications for casino licences in the
future, will consider such applications in accordance with the
licensing objectives. At present, there is no facility for the
Council to accept such applications, as explained in Section 4 of
the report. 
 
Alternative Options Considered
–
·        
The Council could decide not to update and
publish a Statement of Licensing Principles; however, this would be
contrary to Section 349 of the Act and would leave the Council open
to challenge in relation to any decisions made under the Act. 
The Council could decide to pass a no-casino resolution; however,
this is not considered desirable for the reasons given at Section 4
of the report.