Agenda item

Linda Holland (Licensing Manager) has prepared the attached update on behalf of the Licensing Team as at September 2023 (that was shared with Committee members via email) and as at November 2023.  John Carter (Head of Service – Public Protection) will give an overview of the most recent update to the Committee.

John Carter (Head of Service – Public Protection) referred to the licensing team updates that had been circulated with the agenda and highlighted the following:

·        The Licensing Team continued to be busy, particularly over the summer period with a number of events running under a Temporary Events Notice (TEN) and other scheduled festival and large scale events.  Information has been sent to all Councillors on TENS and Permitted Activities and these were also enclosed in the agenda pack at pages 96-98.  TENS could sometimes cause local concern and can cover a wide range/variety of events which are not covered by a Premises Licence.  TENS are a light touch form of licencing and concerns around noise disturbance are often picked up by local Councillors, the guidance gave details of the limitation and highlighted the quick turnaround times and that often the work involved is not covered by the £21 application fee which is set by legislation;

·         The Council’s current Statement of Licensing Policy came into effect in November 2019 and would cease to have effect in November 2024. The Council must be in a position to formally adopt a revised policy with effect from November next year and in order to satisfy the specific legal requirements, set down in the Act, the Council will need to carry out a consultation process on the proposed Statement of Licensing Policy;

·         The Licensing Team will take the opportunity to revise the content of the policy to reflect the latest guidance issued under the Act and amendments made to the Act itself since the current policy was adopted.  Members were now asked to review the current policy and send any initial comments to John Carter by the end of January 2024;

·         The first draft of the policy would be presented to the Committee at the next meeting in March 2024 meeting for consideration and approval would be sought to carry out the required consultation for 6 weeks.  Following the formal consultation process, an analysis of the responses received would be undertaken and the results collated for the Committee to consider in June 2024.  A revised policy document would be made available in time to ensure the policy is in force by the beginning of November 2024;

·        It was noted that the Clerk had made efforts to invite the Police Licensing Officers to attend/provide updates to the Licensing Committee but had not had a response.  The Police Licensing Officers were managed under the Community Policing model, and it was felt that there could be better partnership work with Council Licensing Officers to ensure that there was a consistent approach that was needed for engagement and enforcement;

·        The team were currently undertaking a review of licensing fees and charges to be presented as part of the annual budget meeting in February 2024, although the Licensing Act 2003 and a number of the Gambling Act 2005 fees were statutory and not subject to change unless the Government amend regulations which permit amendments;

A Committee Member asked about the licence fee for something like the WOMAD festival and if it covered the cost of the Officer work involved.  John Carter reported that the fees for Premises Licence are fixed by legislation and that he felt they were now out of date.  Whilst a lot of events did not require so much Officer time, WOMAD had a large amount of Officer involvement and that they were legally required to hold Event Safety Advisory Group (ESAG) meetings with multi agency partners and to have an event debrief after the event.  In his personal opinion the set fees should be reviewed.

The Committee Member asked if there were any thoughts of the Council’s leadership to put pressure on our MPs to request a review of charges.  John Carter was not sure of this but highlighted again that the fees and charges were being reviewed as part of the budget setting process but where the subject areas were legislative there was no wriggle room to create local charges.

The Committee Member suggested that there could be encouragement of activities to bring money into the County and that perhaps as a Committee this could be taken forward.  The Chairman stated that he would look to meet with John Carter outside of the meeting to consider the best way forward for this.

In response to a number of general questions from the Committee Members the following was clarified:

·        In legislation a marquee does count as a premises for which a licence can be obtained;

·        In respect of a TEN application only the Police and Environmental Health can raise an objection.  Public nuisance was a licensing objective and if it was proposed to site a marquee in an inappropriate place for an event then objections could be raised on those grounds;

·        When submitting a TEN application weekends and bank holidays do not count as working days and the day that the application is received does not count as a working day before the event.  With those involved in event planning the TEN application process can sometimes be overlooked or left until the last minute as usually event planning has been in progress a long time for them to be able to set up and advertise events; and

·        There can be an application for an event in a field if licensable activities are planned to take place.

The Chairman highlighted that the Committee had spent time focusing on the current Statement of Licensing Policy and that it was for those involved in organising events to talk to their local communities and the relevant Officers at the Council at the earliest opportunity when planning their events.  All Members were encouraged to remind their town and parish councils to engage with the Council and get guidance in appropriate time for their event as this was important.

John Carter then highlighted that the Government had added the XL Bully dog breed to the list of dogs banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 – this legislation would apply in England and Wales.  From 31 December 2023, breeding, selling, exchanging, advertising, rehoming, gifting, abandoning, and allowing an XL Bully dog to stray would be illegal, and those dogs must be muzzled and on a lead in public.  From 1 February 2024 it would be a criminal offence to own an XL Bully in England and Wales unless the owner has a Certificate of Exemption.

It was hoped that these changes would have a minimal impact on the Council’s Dog Warden Service as dogs that have been abandoned could be aggressive and there was concern with Officers and some anticipated problems with Vets who refuse to put down some healthy animals.  It was reported that there were no licenced breeders for XL Bully dogs within Wiltshire but there was this breed of dog within the county.  It was noted that some kennels refuse to house certain breeds of dogs, and this could lead to them being abandoned.  John Carter reported that Bath cats and dogs’ home was used to rehome strays found but that their capacity was limited although they would accept XL Bullies there.

Further details of the Licensing Team restructure following Linda Holland’s retirement would be shared with the Committee at the next meeting in March 2024.

Resolved that:

1.      The Committee note the update on behalf of the Licensing Team.

2.      Members be asked to review the Council’s current Statement of Licensing Policy and send any initial comments to john.carter@wiltshire.gov.uk by the end of January 2024.  Link here

https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/media/4138/Statement-of-Licensing-Policy-2019-2024/pdf/Statement-of-licensing-policy-2019-2024.pdf?m=637316303240530000