PRESENT:          Cllr P Rogerson (in the Chair)

APOLOGIES:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors J Dalton, Mrs W J Mallen and Mrs A E Snelling.

Ms Caroline Steven

The Chairman informed the Committee of the appointment of Ms C Steven as Licensing Manager.  Members congratulated Ms Steven on her appointment and wished her well for the future.

There were no declarations of interest.

There was no information to report in respect of this item.

RESOLVED:  That the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 23 September 2004 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Committee considered in detail a draft licensing policy made under the Licensing Act 2003 to reflect a new mandatory licensing regime.  Prior to the operational aspects coming into effect on 7 February 2005, the licensing Authority must have an adopted statement of licensing policy in place by the government’s deadline on 7 January 2005.  In order for this timescale to be met, the policy would require to be submitted to Council on 13 December 2004.

The statement considered by Members described the policies that the Council would apply when making decisions on applications for:-

The licensing objectives which would underpin the determining of applications were also set out as follows:-

It was noted that consultation on the draft statement of licensing policy had commenced in late September 2004 and 45 responses had been received from consultees in the licensed trade; mobile food traders; partnership organisations and parish town councils.  Details of the responses received were submitted in an appendix together with officer comments and proposed actions and these comments and observations were incorporated into a further draft statement which was circulated at the meeting.  The Thames Valley Police enforcement protocol was also attached for the Committee’s information.

Discussion ensued on the draft policy comments received and particular reference was made to the insertion of “street art” in the range of entertainment activities receiving support.  The relevance of this activity within this context was questioned.  Whilst the Committee did not wish to delete this activity from the policy statement, it was considered appropriate for the Chairman of the Committee to seek clarification from the Strategic Director (Customer Services) of the role and relevance of street art in relation to the Licensing Act.

During further discussion Members stressed the need for work to continue to make organisations and the public more aware of the licensing policy and “licensable activities”.  In this regard Members welcomed the information that an easy to read guide would be produced when the Regulations had been modified to deal with the finer details of the regime.  The Committee also took the view that a leaflet of ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ might help to explain the main areas of the new policy in an interesting and easy to read format and could be included within Community Voice. It was agreed to produce such a leaflet.

After further discussion of the draft policy it was:-

The Committee received an information sheet distributed since the last meeting:

1/2004 - Licensing Act and its implications for Crime and Disorder

Details of the implementation of the Licensing Act were circulated for the Committee’s attention.  Members noted the following training days in relation to the Licensing Act 2003:

It was noted that any Member who wished to serve on a Licensing Panel had to attend at least one of the meetings to be held on 6 January and 27 January 2005 respectively.

Details of proposed times and dates of Licensing Panels were also noted.  It was proposed to hold Panel meetings at 2.00pm on 17 February 2005, 10 March, 31 March, 21 April and 12 May.  However it was recognised that further meetings might be necessary dependent upon the number of applications made.

With regard to the panels the following Members confirmed their willingness to serve on future panels:

Councillors P Rogerson, R J Bate, D G Fieldhouse, Mrs V A Razzaq, D A B Green, Mrs C C Martens, M B Oram and Mrs A M Stenner.

___________________

CHAIRMAN

The following officers were in attendance at the meeting:

Ms C Hughes          -     Head of Environmental Services

Mr R Marshall          -     Divisional Environmental Heath Officer

Ms C Steven           -      Licensing Manager

Mrs S Wilson          -     Principal Solicitor

Mr M Conroy     -     Council Secretariat

APPENDIX A – DRAFT STATEMENT OF LICENSING POLICY