Clause 66 - Consideration of application: general principles
Gambling Bill
4:15 pm
Mr Malcolm Moss (Shadow Minister, Home Affairs; North East Cambridgeshire, Conservative)
The amendment is an attempt to strengthen the wording of the clause, and amendment No. 216 would ensure that the commission took into consideration only information that was relevant in the context of the application.
We tabled amendment No. 217 because the clause refers to the commission making a determination regarding the suitability of a gaming machine, but clause 220 provides that the Secretary of State should make regulations defining classes of machine and the premises on which each is to be used. It should not be possible for the commission to reach a view contrary to that of the Secretary of State.
Amendment No. 218 relates to the fact that the clause allows the commission to have regard to any other circumstances. We feel that that is too broad, and it would be inequitable if the commission could have regard to circumstances that were not relevant to the licensed activity.
Amendment No. 219 would delete subsection (5), and amendment No. 220 would delete subsection (7). We are making the point that clause 220 provides for the Secretary of State to make regulations. We do not want there to be any conflict between what the Secretary of State determines and what the commission can do.