2.1 In accordance with the Act the Policy has been prepared in consultation with the following parties:

• elected Members of London Borough of Bexley
• neighbouring authorities
• bodies designated under section 157 of the Act as ‘Responsible Authorities’
• town centre forums, partnerships and managers
• person/bodies representative of local residents
• person/bodies representative of gambling businesses
• representatives of persons or business who hold premises licences
• organisations working with people who are problem gamblers
• representatives of health care organisations
• representatives of voluntary and community organisations working with children and young people

The names and addresses of those persons/bodies consulted in the preparation of this Gambling Policy are available on request to the Licensing Partnership (section 16).

2.2 The consultation took place between the period commencing 28 October 2024 and 1 December 2024. Consultation documents were provided on the Council’s website.

2.3 The full list of comments made, and the consideration by the Council of those comments, is available on request to the Licensing Partnership (section 16).

2.4 Appropriate weight has been given to the views of those consulted, and in determining the weight given the factors the Council has taken into account include:

• who made the representations, including their expertise or interest
• relevance of the factors to the licensing objectives
• how many other people expressed the same or similar views
• the relevance of the representations, that is did they relate to matters the Council should take into account