Meeting documents

It was proposed by Councillor D Smith, and seconded by Councillor J Jordan, and

RESOLVED that Councillor T Egleton be elected Chairman of the Licensing Committee for the remainder of the Municipal Year.

It was proposed by Councillor T Egleton, and seconded by Councillor D Smith, and

RESOLVED: that Councillor M Lewis be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Licensing Committee for the remainder of the Municipal Year.

To confirm the minutes of the meetings of the Committee held on 5 October 2016 and 23 May 2017.

The Minutes of the meetings of the Licensing Committee held on 5 October 2016 and 23 May 2017 were agreed as a correct record.

To receive any declarations of interest

There were no declarations of interest.

The Committee considered the draft revised Licensing Act Policy Statement and were asked to approve the document for public consultation. The Council was statutorily required to prepare and publish a Licensing Policy every 5 years, and to keep the Policy under review throughout that time.

It was noted that there had been no specific issues with the Policy since the last review and it had been updated in a number of areas to reflect changes made since the last review. This included updated being made to take account of changes to immigration legislation, updating the name of the Committee, and removing references to officer delegations which were available to view in the Council’s Constitution to avoid duplication. An extra delegation was proposed to enable the Head of Healthy Communities to make minor changes to the Policy, in consultation with the Chairman of the Committee, to avoid it having to be approved by the Committee where only small changes or corrections were required in the future. Members also noted that the neighbour notification policy, referred to in the report and circulated during the meeting, would be included in the Policy for consultation. An updated district ward map would also be attached to the Policy.

Members suggested that clear guidance when notifying neighbours was required. It was noted that neighbour notification letters would make clear that valid reasons for objecting to applications needed to be based on the four Licensing Objectives and licensing officers would check that only objections containing valid reasons were accepted.

RESOLVED that

1.       The draft Licensing Policy be approved for consultation for a period of 6 weeks, commencing in February 2018.

2.       The results of the consultation exercise be reported back to the Licensing Committee at a future meeting, for further consideration.

3.       It be noted that Full Council will agree the adoption of the final Licensing Policy at a meeting likely to be held in November 2018.

To note the report of the Director of Services.

The Committee reviewed and noted a list of the delegated determinations made by the Licensing Officer during the period covering 15 September 2016 to 31 December 2017 covering:

1)     personal licences

2)     premises licence grants, variations and variations pending

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

To note the report of the Director of Services.

The Committee received a report from the Director of Services detailing Licensing Sub Committee determinations and appeals for the period 10 June 2016 and 4 January 2018.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

To note the report of the Director of Services.

Members received a report detailing the number of officer determinations for private hire and hackney carriage matters during the period 15 September 2017 to 31 December 2017.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

To note the report of the Director of Services.

The Committee received a report from the Director of Services detailing Licensing Sub Committee determinations and appeals for taxi and private hire licences during 1 March 2016 to 9 June 2016.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

To note the report of the Director of Services.

The Committee received a report detailing the number of street collection permits issued between 15 September 2016 and 31 December 2017.

It was clarified that any street collections occurring anywhere the public has access to and involving the collection of cash or goods of value were regulated and the street collector would need to have registered with the Council. Street collections involving the gathering of information with the intension of setting up direct debit payments were not currently regulated under the existing legislation. As there were a number of exceptions to the regulations Members were encouraged to contact the licensing team if they had any specific questions or concerns regarding any street collections operating in the district. The Licensing team could then follow up any non-compliance of the regulated street collections if required.

Further information was requested to show what proportion of the 173 street collection permits issued during the period were for local charities. The Licensing Manager also advised that a review of the way street collection permits were issued to ensure that there was fair access to permits.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

To consider any other business the Chairman decides is urgent.