Clause 105 - Renewal of licence

Gambling Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 10:00 am on 2 December 2004.

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Photo of Don Foster Don Foster Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 10:00, 2 December 2004

I beg to move amendment No. 242, in clause 105, page 49, line 9, at end add—

'(9) The Commission shall make a statement regarding the circumstances under which failure to act within the time specified for renewal through inadvertence, impossibility, clerical error, or other relevant circumstance may be remedied by the extension of time.'.

There is no provision in the Bill covering failure to renew owing to clerical error. The commission may determine that an operating licence will be for a specified period, and such determination may give effect to the necessity for renewal of the licence. There are specific time limits for renewal, and the commission should surely have the ability to address the situation when an application for renewal is not received or processed because of administrative fault. Subsection (3) specifies the time within which an application for renewal may be made and subsection (8) states that

''The Secretary of State may by order amend subsection (3)''  with a different time. The amendment would allow, in exceptional circumstances, an extension of the time during which the application for renewal must be made.

Photo of Richard Caborn Richard Caborn Minister of State (Sport and Tourism), Department for Culture, Media & Sport

The amendment, which would allow the period during which renewal of an operating licence can take place to be extended if there were an oversight or clerical error, is well intentioned, but I am afraid that it would have consequences. Because of that, I regret that I cannot support it. The Government want a world-class system of regulation in the UK that is crime free and which protects the public, and I know that all parties support that. A valid operating licence is central to that system, and if operators do not have a valid operating licence, they should not be allowed to carry on a gambling business in the UK.

The clause already provides for an operator to apply for renewal up to three months before a licence expires, and he must do so at least one month before expiry to ensure that the commission has time to renew it. That provides more than an adequate safeguard for the type of inadvertent or clerical error that the amendment seeks to address. For that reason, I cannot accept it.

Photo of Don Foster Don Foster Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

I was listening carefully to the Minister, but I must have gone deaf for a moment, and I should be grateful if he would repeat the last part of his brief. He made no reference to clause 112(3), which allows for a time extension if there has been an administrative error. Similarly, clause 179(2) allows licensing authorities to decide not to revoke a premises licence if there has been a failure to pay the annual fee and

''they think that a failure to pay is attributable to administrative error.''

Given that that is already covered in relation to other aspects in clauses 112(3) and 179(2), neither of which were referred to by the Minister, I am surprised at his response.

Photo of Richard Caborn Richard Caborn Minister of State (Sport and Tourism), Department for Culture, Media & Sport

The hon. Gentleman may be surprised, but there was a good reason for it, which I will now explain. Failure to pay a fee is not the same as a core renewal issue, which is referred to in later clauses. The safeguard—the hon. Gentleman must have missed this during his momentary deafness—is that the operator may apply for renewal up to three months before the licence expires and must have done so at least one month before expiry to ensure that the commission has time to renew it. That is to provide an adequate period for the gambling commission to look at the licence for renewal. It is not for failure to pay a fee.

Photo of Don Foster Don Foster Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

I apologise, but I fail to understand the Minister's response. In relation to the revocation of an operating licence, the Bill clearly provides for a determination to be made if the failure is due to an administrative error. The decision can therefore be reconsidered in such a case. Similarly, a licensing authority has the opportunity to reconsider its decision not to revoke a premises licence in the light of its being clear that the operator's failure was the result of an administrative error. Those two cases are clearly covered in the Bill. That is acknowledged. I simply fail   to understand why a three-month period does not alter a clerical error and why, on this occasion, it is not allowed.

Photo of Richard Caborn Richard Caborn Minister of State (Sport and Tourism), Department for Culture, Media & Sport

It is much easier to prove failure to pay a fee for clerical error. For renewal, the operator must have put its affairs in order. Indeed, the fees are annual. The renewal to which we were referring may be once every 10 years, so there is a big time difference. [Interruption.] The significance is nine years—between 10 and one. The fees are annual. The renewal is once every 10 years.

Photo of Don Foster Don Foster Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

I entirely accept the Minister's point that one happens every year and the other every 10 years, but there can be an administrative error at the end of the 10-year period and at the end of the one-year period. It is clear that the Minister has a better argument to deploy, and we look forward to hearing it.

Photo of Richard Caborn Richard Caborn Minister of State (Sport and Tourism), Department for Culture, Media & Sport

I said what I said simply for the sake of a full explanation from the Government and for moving the Bill on. An operating licence will now have an indefinite duration. We believe that the existing structure is sound and can pick up clerical and other errors, so we do not believe that the amendment would add anything to the Bill.

Photo of Don Foster Don Foster Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

I disagree, and I suspect from the look on the Minister's face that he is not totally convinced either. That may mean that he will discuss the matter quietly with his officials and others, which may give us another opportunity to discuss it. Given that possibility, I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Clause 105 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 106 ordered to stand part of the Bill.