Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies and details of any substitutions.

Apologies were received from Cllrs Steve Bucknell and Sam Charleston.

There were no substitutions.

To confirm and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 16 September 2024 (copy attached).

The minutes of the meeting held on 16 September 2024 were presented to the Committee.

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 16 September 2024 be approved and signed as a correct record.

To receive any announcements from the Chairman.

The Chairman made the following announcements:

Welcome to the Police representatives

Alistair Day (Police Licensing Officer) 

Stephen Melville (Safer Streets Co-Ordinator)

Richard Tottle (Police Licensing Officer)

Last meeting of this Council term

The Chairman personally thanked all members for their support at committee meetings and licensing hearings over the last year and highlighted that he would not be standing for re-election on 1 May 2025.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

Statements

If you would like to make a statement at this meeting on any item on this agenda, please register to do so at least 10 minutes prior to the meeting. Up to 3 speakers are permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes each on any agenda item. Please contact the officer named on the front of the agenda for any further clarification.

Questions

To receive any questions from members of the public or members of the Council received in accordance with the constitution.

Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named on the front of this agenda no later than 5pm on Monday 10 March 2025 in order to be guaranteed of a written response. In order to receive a verbal response questions must be submitted no later than 5pm on Wednesday 12 March 2025. Please contact the officer named on the front of this agenda for further advice. Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Committee members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

No questions or statements were received in advance of the meeting.

To receive an update on any appeals lodged against Licensing Sub Committee decisions.

There were no known Licensing Sub Committee appeals pending.

To receive and sign the minutes of the following Licensing Sub Committees:

Western Area Licensing Sub Committee

25 September 2024           Application for a Premises Licence - Fig, 5 The                                    Shambles, Bradford on Avon

19 November 2024            Application for a Premises Licence - Thoulstone                                  Park, Chapmanslade, Westbury

The following Licensing Sub Committee minutes were approved:

Western Area Licensing Sub Committee

25.09.24       Application for a Premises Licence – Fig, 5 The Shambles,                         Bradford on Avon

19.11.24       Application for a Premises Licence, Thoulstone Park,                                Chapmanslade, Westbury

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meetings detailed above be approved and signed as a correct record.

Stephen Melville (Safer Streets Co-Ordinator) from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner will be attending the meeting to give an update on the Safer Streets Fund initiative.  Details received from the Home Office on the Government’s plans regarding Safer Streets project funding is attached.

Stephen Melville (Safer Streets Co-Ordinator - Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner) gave an update on the Safer Streets fund initiative and highlighted the following:

·            That the Government had confirmed that the funding for round 5 of the Safer Streets initiative would end on 31 March 2025 and there had been no announcements on any future funding; and

·            The projects in Salisbury and Trowbridge were now wrapping up for the last few weeks of March and this would follow with an analysis of the project and updated crime data which would guide what work if any would continue.

The Chairman asked if the projects findings could be reported back to the Licensing Committee.  Stephen reported that data would be shared with the Home Office and the findings report would be used to try and guide the Police’s funding to go forward.  A brief version of the findings could be prepared to be shared with the Committee.

A committee member referred to the information received from the Home Office on page 43 of the agenda and noted that they had stated that they were committed to strengthening neighbourhood policing and would deliver 13,000 additional Police Officers, Police Community Support Officers and Special Constables during this Parliament and asked if Wiltshire would receive an allocation of officers?  Stephen confirmed that Wiltshire would receive a share of the funding in order to recruit additional officers.

A committee member commented that following the evaluation some of the work may not be able to continue without the funding and asked how much of what had been done as part of the project was already embedded into the Police’s current offer?  Stephen confirmed that the CCTV that had been put in place would remain with the responsibility to maintain and monitor being passed onto the relevant Town or City Councils and some other initiatives would keep running but outside of the Safer Streets funding as this was coming to an end including the Street Wardens project to be directed to the anti-social behaviour hotspots.

The Chairman thanked Stephen for the updates and welcomed the feedback from the project to be shared with the committee at their next meeting on 16 June 2025.

Resolved:

1.          That the Committee note the update on the Safer Streets Fund initiative.

2.          That the Safer Streets project findings report be presented to the next meeting of the Licensing Committee on 16 June 2025.

Richard Tottle and Alistair Day (Police Licensing Officers) prepared updates as at November 2024 and these were shared with Committee members via email in the absence of the December meeting). Further updates have now been received and they are all attached for the committee’s information.

Richard Tottle (Police Licensing Officer – West) referred to the updates circulated with the agenda and highlighted the following:

·            Since last year a number of new Pubwatch schemes had been initiated including Chippenham, Corsham, Malmesbury, Royal Wotton Bassett and Trowbridge who would now be meeting monthly as well as the existing schemes in Melksham, Warminster and Westbury which were going well; and

·            There was press coverage about the upcoming festival season and noted that WOMAD would not go ahead this year, but two other festivals were planned for the Charlton Park, Malmesbury site.

Alastair Day (Police Licensing Officer – East) referred to the updates circulated with the agenda and highlighted the following:

·            They had been engaging with Stephen Melville (Safer Streets Co-Ordinator) and other agencies in relation to the promotion and provision of the free Welfare and Vulnerability Engagement (WAVE) for which the take up had been good;

·            Operation Serent which is a wide ranging operation to tackle crime and disorder associated with the nighttime economy would take place at least once a month, usually on a pay date weekend.  The intention was to provide high visibility patrols of areas to increase public confidence/prevent offences/promptly deal with any issues along with visits to licensed premises to increase the relationships with the venues and their staff and to show the public that they Police are out and about and looking for responsible venues; and

·            There had been no major incidents since last meeting, just the normal customer dynamics and some behaviour when intoxicated particularly in Salisbury as service personnel from Amesbury were partaking in the nighttime economy in Salisbury and the close of The Chapel nightclub at 3.30am could become a pinch point so Officers were looking to engage with the military police to assist with this issue.

The Chairman noted that as Chippenham had now lost its last nightclub, it would mean that pubs were now the last port of call for patrons and asked if there was better engagement with pubs as the last nighttime venue and if there would be more discussion about their roles and responsibilities.  Richard Tottle noted that there were other premises in the vicinity that had taken up the mantle and The Burnel had created a semi dancefloor at the back of their premises.

A committee member commented that the Corsham Pubwatch scheme was going really well and that it was really appreciated by groups as there had previously been a pub that fell into disrepute but the current Landlord had changed things around and was working hard to improve things and deserved praise and recognition for his efforts.  Richard agreed that they had also noticed the turnaround and that it made his job easier. 

The Chairman highlighted that engagement with the premises, staff and public was a key element and thanked the officers for their update. 

Resolved:

That the Committee note the update on behalf of the Police Licensing Team.

Jason Beattie (SEND and Passenger Assistant Manager) has prepared the attached Education Transport Statistics which were shared with Committee members via email in absence of the December 2024 meeting and will give an overview at the meeting.

Jason Salter (Head of Service – Passenger Transport) referred to the slides circulated with the agenda to provide an update on behalf of the Passenger Transport Team and highlighted the following:

·            It was anticipated that by September 2025 there would be an increase of around 250 SEND pupils requiring transport to their education settings which would raise to over 2,500 children and young people being transported.  The team were already putting plans in place for that and had ordered a further 12 vehicles to work in some areas to mitigate that risk.  There was increased market engagement and with new entrants to the taxi market it was hoped that they would be able to assist with the additional contracts to meet the demand going forward;

·            The number of taxi/Private Hire vehicles available in the in the north and west areas of Wiltshire remains limited, whereas in the south and east of the county competition was present when tendering.   An advertising campaign for new Wiltshire Council employed drivers and Passenger Assistants was being launched late spring.  They would also utilise advertising via social media, on petrol pumps, recruitment fairs and through the refer a friend scheme with existing staff and it was hopeful that this would meet the demand;

·            Officers also try hard and look at ways to mitigate or reduce the education transport need to be provided by the Council including the use of public transport and payments to parents to transport their children; and

·            The press had picked up over the weekend that the average annual cost of transport for Wiltshire SEND students was more than ten times more expensive than mainstream students.  The team would continue to review the eligibility of Passenger Assistants to see if there were any further efficiencies that could be made and were also looking at central pick up points for students.  The rising cost implications were due to growth in demand and obviously this was not in the team’s control, but the service was working well generally and preparing for the increased need in September 2025.

The Chairman commented that the provision of in house vehicles and drivers for education transportation seemed to be the way to go whilst acknowledging that that would challenge budgets with the purchase or lease of vehicles and those being employed to drive them.  He suggested that this might be a suitable role for those who had retired and were looking for part time work. 

A committee member asked about the vehicles that are provided in house and if they were used throughout the day or sitting idle sometimes.  Jason responded that usually vehicles return from the morning drop off around 9.30/10am and some then are idle and some are used on a public transport route, but agreed that it would be good to share the asset and make them more viable by looking at what other use there could be for social care providers or community use etc. 

A committee member asked if the council owned vehicles  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

Tom Ince (Principal Compliance Officer) has prepared the attached Taxi Licensing Team updates as at October 2024 (that was shared with Committee members via email in the absence of the December meeting) and January 2025 and will give an overview of the most recent update at the meeting.

Tom Ince (Principal Compliance Officer) referred to the updates circulated with the agenda on behalf of the Taxi Licensing Team and highlighted the following:

·            Driver numbers were holding well and were at over 900 for consecutive months for the first time since April 2021 new applications were continuing to be received.  Some drivers wanted to do part time work to supplement their other income in the current economic conditions and whilst the taxi licensing team was currently experiencing issues with long term sickness they were prioritising licensing renewals and applications;

·            The number of licensed vehicles was slowly increasing on the way up to 850 increasing slowly and there was an increase in hackney carriage licences due to the recent changes in Council policy regarding window tints;

·            The team had carried out their annual review of taxi tariff fares and were currently in the process of consulting with the taxi trade.  The fares had not been raised for 2 years and it was proposed to increase tariff 1 by 10%.  The findings from the consultation would be presented to the Committee at their next meeting with the possible proposal to increase a tariff.  This proposal was based upon data led evidence which had identified that Wiltshire taxis are cheaper during the daytime than others;

·            Officers also had to bear in mind the public expectations that taxis need to be an affordable service and for drivers/operators to have a viable business but do not price themselves out of the market;

·            The team’s had frozen their licensing fees for 4 years in a row, recognising that the industry was struggling, and although the school transport work was consistent, there was a reduced footfall in towns and withing the nighttime economy;

·            The team had also moved to a new computer system (ARCUS) which had been a challenge as not all functions were yet working correctly and there was some way to go to resolve that and make the required improvements and more staffing resources were required; and

·            Even with the current reduced staffing capacity, enforcement was still being carried out and it was three drivers had had their licences revoked in recent weeks, one had refused to take a guide dog, one was using a phone at the wheel and one threatened a Council officer.  The team also be looking to carry out enforcement activity during the evening.

The Chairman raised a concern that they would not wish for any possible tariff increases to drive away the nighttime economy and that a taxi provision was definitely needed to align with the Safer Streets work.  Tom highlighted that from initial consultation findings there was a mixed bag of responses with some wanting to raise other tariffs also and not wanting to make any changes.  The Committee were reminded that the taxi tariffs as set were the maximum amounts that could be charged and a choice could be made to charge lower fares. 

A committee member asked about the team’s current staffing issues.  Tom confirmed that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

Tom Ince (Principal Compliance Officer) was requested to provide members with the information on the possibility of school only taxi licenses following a request from the Committee on 16 September 2024 and this is attached for members information.

Following a request from the Committee at their meeting on 16 September 2024, Tom Ince (Principal Compliance Officer) had prepared a briefing note which gave consideration to the possibility of the issue of a ‘school only’ taxi licence and this was circulated with the agenda.  The following was highlighted:

·            At present, only 30 local authorities out of 270 local authorities in England offer school only licences.  When Officers reviewed the pros and cons of this offer they concluded that they could not see what the advantage would be to offer this alternative;

·            Of those local authorities that issue school only licenses, most only offer a driver licence and a small number offer a school only vehicle licence, but it was felt that it would not be cost effective for an operator to purchase a vehicle for a large sum of money which could only be used for a specific school contract.  The significant cost of a vehicle would dictate that it needs to be utilised for as great a time as possible to recoup the cost, e.g. to undertake other contracts and standard private hire work and that appeared to be the reason why most other local authorities offer a school only driver licence;

·            All of the other local authorities that offer a school only driver licence insist on both a DBS and medical check as well as safeguarding training before the licence can be issued.  Wiltshire’s standards of checks were some of the highest compared to others and included an enhanced DBS check including a check of the barred lists for children and adults.  It was felt that none of those checks could be dropped for a school only licence and that all drivers would need to be properly vetted to ensure they were suitable and to avoid any criticism;

·            They were often frustrations with the delays that there could be from the processing of DBS applications, they could take anything from a week or so to up to 4 months – obviously this was out the taxi licencing team’s hands but there were often drivers read to start work that were waiting for the DBS check to be processed;

·            As a Council it was not felt that standards should not be reduced and that it was important to carry out the necessary checks to vet drivers appropriately.  The Licensing process for a school only driver licence was unlikely to be much faster than the standard private hire driving licensing process;

·            The cost of the process would not reduce as there was still the same admin time involved to process applications and checks and officers could not see an advantage for an applicant to reduce their earnings potential; and

·            The licence would be very problematic to enforce as it would be difficult to ensure school only licenced drivers did not undertake standard private hire work.  The team only had two Enforcement Officers to cover the whole of Wiltshire and as such could not efficiently enforce a school only licence  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

Claire Francis (Head of Public Protection) has prepared the attached Public Protection Licensing updates as at November 2024 (that was shared with Committee members via email in the absence of the December meeting) and March 2025 and will give an overview of the most recent update at the meeting.

Claire Francis (Head of Public Protection) referred to the updates circulated with the agenda on behalf of the Public Protection Licensing Team and highlighted the following:

·            Following interviews in October 2024, Claire had been appointed as Head of Public Protection and as a result some temporary changes had been made to the line management in the licensing team.  The vacant role of Public Protection Manager – Community Protection would be advised in the next few weeks;

·            There had been a successful bid for enforcement group funding for a temporary additional Licensing Officer for 3 days a week for 14 months.  The focus of their work would be to review how the team deal with complaints about animal licences as well as raise awareness of animal licensing requirements across Wiltshire.  That officer would also be covering some of Emma Hyde’s maternity leave from April 2025;

·            Licensing Officers had been able to attend training for the Professional Licensing Practitioners qualification which had been funded by the Enforcement Management Group and this would help to improve the knowledge and confidence to enforce licensing legislation across the team;

·            There was event planning for summer events taking place and there would be at least 4 Event Safety Advisory Group (ESAG) meetings to chaired and the team were working closely with a number of festival organisers e.g. Shindig festival and Existence festival which were planned at Charlton Park, Malmesbury as well as the Wiltshire Throwback Festival planned for Melksham;

·            The team were reviewing the event information on the website to make it clearer and easier for event organisers to access the relevant information and advice;

·            There was currently no update on Martyn’s Law or the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill that was being considered by the House of Lords.  There was a working group to look at the impact this might have on premises and would relate to larger events falling in the scope of over 800 people in attendance and further details were awaited;

·            The new ARCUS database was introduced from June 2024 and after a difficult start the team were now able to use the system more fully and were seeing some real benefits for the licensing service.  There had been huge progress in preparing online forms to go on the website as well as Public Registers which would contain live data taken from the database.  The team were in the final states of testing an online form to apply for a Temporary Event Notice (TEN) and make payments and due to the volume of TEN applications received this would have a real impact and reduce admin time;

·            Annual fee reminders were now being sent via email where possible and payments were being received much quicker.   Currently 190 premises licences were suspended for non-payment.  Some of those were businesses were vacant pubs that were likely not currently trading.  Officers were following up these suspensions and would be visiting premises to see if they were currently operating and would share any relevant information with the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

Members are asked to note the future meetings of the Licensing Committee, all to commence at 10.30am:

16 June 2025

15 September 2025

8 December 2025

16 March 2026.

Members noted the next and future meetings of the Licensing Committee all to commence at 10.30am.

16 June 2025

15 September 2025

8 December 2025

16 March 2025.

There were no urgent items. 

Cllr Ruth Hopkinson wished to thank the Chairman, Cllr Peter Hutton for manging the Licensing Committee over the Council term and for luck in his future endeavours.