THE GAMBLING STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES (GSoP)
The Council of the Isles of Scilly is a Licensing Authority under the Gambling Act 2005. Section 349 of the Act requires that all Licensing Authorities must prepare and publish every three years, a Gambling Statement of Principles (it’s the statutory term for a Gambling Policy), or GSoP.
This GSoP must be reviewed every 3 years from the first appointed date of 31 January 2007. This date was set under the Gambling Act 2005 (Licensing Authority Policy Statement) (First Appointed Day) Order 2006.
The GSoP outlines the principles which they propose to apply when exercising their functions as the licensing body for gambling on the islands.
The GSoP is similar to that required by the Licensing Act 2003 and must follow procedures set out in the Act, including whom they consult.
The current policy (2019-2022) is available to view on this page, as is the previous policy (2015-2018).
CONSULTATION ON NEW GAMBLING STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES FOR THE ISLES OF SCILLY
We are now consulting on the draft of a new Gambling Statement of Principles. In effect only cosmetic changes have been made, for example such changes where addresses or names of agencies or persons have changed since 2018.
This draft version was agreed by the Licensing Committee in July 2023 for consultation and it should be noted that legislation does not specify a duration for the consultation, it is at the discretion of the local authority. In this case we have decided to use a 6 week period starting from Monday 22 July 2024.
It should be noted that para 4.39 of the policy relates solely to the issue of whether or not the Isles of Scilly welcomes casinos. Under Section 166 of the Gambling Act 2005 it became the mandate for each licensing authority to determine this for themselves. However, such a determination can only last for 3 years before needing reaffirmation. It is therefore necessary for the licensing authority to consider this once again, which it will do as part of this consultation. It should be noted that this licensing authority has taken the decision to pass a ‘no casino resolution’ in each iteration of the Policy since their inception in 2005.
Following the consultation there will be a meeting of the Licensing Committee to consider any amendments or to propose the new policy to Council for ratification. Pending Council ratification, a notice of change to the policy will be published for 28 days, after which point the new GSoP will come into effect.
Responding to the consultation
Please send your comments on the draft Gambling Statement of Principles to licensing@scilly.gov.uk with the title/subject 'GAMBLING CONSULTATION' before Monday 2 September 2024.
Your comments will be anonymised for use in the subsequent Licensing Committee report and possibly the report to Council. Your name and any contact details will be redacted, and any identifiable information you convey through your response will also be redacted. Please do give some regard to writing your response in a way that removes your identity or identifiable experience.
A paper copy of the draft 2023-2026 GSoP will also be available to read in St Mary’s Library at any time.