Meeting documents

1 THE ISSUE

1.1 The Gambling Act 2005 allows for a controlled increase in the number of casinos in Great Britain. The locations of these will be proposed by an independent Advisory Panel which will then make recommendations to the Secretary of State. Local Authorities will be invited to express interest in and make a case for the right to issue a premises' licence for a casino in their area. The Council is asked to consider submitting an initial expression of interest to enable the potential opportunities and impacts for Bath and North East Somerset to be explored.

2 RECOMMENDATION

3 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

3.1 There are no direct financial implications arising from this report and the initial preparation of a case for a casino will be implemented within existing resources.

4 THE REPORT

4.1 The Gambling Act 2005 replaces most of the existing law relating to gambling in Great Britain and is intended to put in place an improved, more comprehensive structure of gambling regulation. It is likely to be fully implemented during the third quarter of 2007.

4.2 Local Authorities can express interest at this stage.

4.3 For Bath and North East Somerset, consideration would need to be given to potential locations, benefits and impacts across the area. However, if a casino proved to be appropriate, Bath is likely to be the most suitable location. Any casino in the City would need to help fulfil the emerging vision for the future of Bath, including the aim of broadening the visitor offer and diversifying the night time economy as well as according with planning policies in Regional Planning Guidance and the Local Plan. The scale and nature of any casino would be a critical factor. It is likely that, if the principle were established, a casino for Bath would need to be small-medium size and of a prestigious nature.

4.4 It is therefore proposed that the Council submits an initial expression of interest to enable the opportunity to be explored further. In exploring the potential it is proposed that the following issues are covered - options in terms of type and style of casino, potential benefits/disbenefits, potential locations and site requirements, fit with national criteria, any information gaps/further work required.

4.5 Background information is set out in Appendix 1.

5 RISK MANAGEMENT

6 RATIONALE

6.1 Under the existing legislation, the number of licences for casinos is not restricted but casinos can be located only in certain areas of the country known as permitted areas. Bath and North East Somerset is not a permitted area. The Gambling Bill will allow applications to be made to open casinos in all local authority areas and provides an opportunity for the Council to register interest, or not, in having a casino in Bath and North East Somerset. In view of the Council's regeneration and economic development aims, particularly for the City of Bath, it is considered appropriate to register an initial expression of interest and to investigate the potential opportunities and impacts further.

7 OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED

7.1 Consideration has been given to not registering any interest in a casino. This has been dismissed on the basis that a regeneration and economic development opportunity for Bath and North East Somerset may, as a result, fail to be properly considered.

8 CONSULTATION

8.1 Other B&NES Services, Section 151 Finance Officer, Chief Executive, Monitoring Officer

8.2 By e-mail