Agenda item

The report of Claire Francis (Public Protection Manager – Community Protection) asks the Committee to note the results of the consultation undertaken and proposed amendments to the Council’s draft Statement of Licensing Policy and comments it for approval by Full Council on 22 October 2024.

Claire Francis (Public Protection Manager – Community Protection) referred to the report which asked the Committee to note the results of the consultation undertaken and proposed amendments to the Council’s draft Statement of Licensing Policy and highlighted the following:

·        At the last meeting the Committee had instructed Officers to carry out a 6 week consultation process on the proposed Statement of Licensing Policy for 2024-2029.  The consultation ran from 17 April to 29 May 2024 and the list of consultees were detailed in the report and there were also two press releases and a number of social media posts regarding the consultation;

·        35 responses were received with most comments received from the residents of Wiltshire.  Additional comments were received from licence holders, Pub Watch members and Town/Parish Councils.  Details of the comments received and the Officer responses to how these were addressed were detailed in appendix 1.  A few changes were made as a result of the consultation, with some wording being updated/tweaked to provide clarity but nothing substantial; and

·        The Committee were now being asked to approve the updated Statement of Licensing Policy as at appendix 2 and to recommend that it go forward to Full Council for approval in October 2024.

The Chairman asked if the number of consultation responses was in line with previous consultations?  Claire Francis responded that it was similar to the responses received 5 years ago with not much difference in the comments raised.  Halfway through the consultation period, the number of responses was reviewed and there was another press release and social media push to encourage more responses.

Committee Members made the following suggested changes/comments:

·        Page 68 of the agenda pack (paragraph 1.2 Key Aims) at the end of the bullet points there is nothing to say that the presumption is that licences will be granted unless there is a reason not to. The Legal Adviser confirmed that perhaps there needs to a reference to the independence of the Sub Committee making application decisions but clarified that unless there are any objections then an application would be granted.  It was agreed to make some minor wording changes here to clarify the presumption that an application will be granted subject to any objections.

·        Page 74 of the agenda pack (2.8 Drink Spiking, start of second paragraph) be amended to read ‘The Licensing Authority’ as opposed to ‘We’.  This change was agreed.

·        Page 88 of the agenda pack (under paragraph 6.6 Permitted Temporary Activities (TENS) towards the end of the fourth paragraph) some of the text was crossed out and that needed to be removed.  This change was agreed.

·        Page 89 of the agenda pack (under paragraph 6.7 Large Scale Events) states that the licensing authority requires that they are given at least six months’ notice to all for sufficient lead in time.  Could this be amended to strongly recommends instead of requires.  This change was agreed.

The Chairman reported that he had had a conversation with the Head of Public Protection before his retirement about the plans for there to be robust training for all Members in relation to Licensing following the May 2025 elections and the needs for detailed specific training for those Councillors who would serve the Licensing Committee and in turn the Licensing Sub Committee hearings.  Claire Francis agreed with the importance of this and indicated that they may consider an external consultant to assist with the specific training for Committee members after the elections in May 2025.

Resolved:

That the Committee recommend the final draft statement of Licensing Policy for 2024-2029 to be approved by Full Council on 22 October 2024 subject to the minor amendments as detailed above.