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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Click here to view the online meeting

Contact: Lisa Pullin 

Media

Items
No. Item

8.

Apologies/Substitutions/Membership Changes

To receive any apologies and details of any substitutions.

 

To note any changes to Committee membership.

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillors Kevin Daley, Mike Hewitt, George Jeans and Jim Lynch.  There were no substitutions.  Following recent changes made at Full Council, Councillor Kevin Daley has replaced Councillor Leo Randall on the Committee.

 

The Chair wished to thank Councillor Leo Randall for his work and support of the Committee and welcomed Councillor Kevin Daley to the Committee.

9.

Minutes

To confirm and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 2 December 2019 and the extraordinary meeting held on 27 January 2020 (copies attached).

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 2 December 2019 and the minutes of the extraordinary meeting held on 27 January 2020 were presented to the Committee.

 

Resolved:

 

That the minutes of the meetings held on 2 December 2019 and 27 January 2020 be approved and signed as a correct record.

10.

Chairman's Announcements

To receive any announcements from the Chairman.

Minutes:

On behalf of the Licensing Committee, the Chairman wished to acknowledge all of the work of the Officers and their teams and to thank them for all they had done during the Covid pandemic.

11.

Declarations of Interest

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

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

12.

Public Participation

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.  During the ongoing Covid-19 situation the Council is operating revised procedures and the public are able participate in meetings online after registering with the officer named on this agenda, and in accordance with the deadlines below.

 

Guidance on how to participate in this meeting online.

 

Statements


Members of the public who wish to submit a statement in relation to an item on this agenda should submit this is electronically to the officer named on this agenda no later than 5pm on Wednesday 2 September. 

State whom the statement is from (including if representing another person or organisation), state points clearly and be readable aloud in approximately 3 minutes. Up to three speakers are allowed for each item on the agenda.

 

Questions

                                                                                                            

Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions electronically to the officer named on the front of this agenda no later than 5pm on Friday 28 August 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 2 September. 


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 members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website; they will be taken as read at the meeting.

Minutes:

No questions or statements had been submitted to the Committee from the public prior to the meeting.

13.

Minutes of the Licensing Sub Committees

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

 

Eastern Area Licensing

 

15/01/20       Application for a Review of a Premises Licence – Tale of Spice,                  9 North Street, Pewsey

 

Northern Area Licensing

 

15/01/20       Application for a Review of a Premises Licence – Tale of Spice,                    Malmesbury Road Chippenham

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Eastern Area

 

15/01/20       Application for a Review of a Premises Licence – Tale of Spice,                    9 North Street, Pewsey

                    

Northern Area

 

15/01/20       Application for a Review of a Premises Licence – Tale of Spice,                    Malmesbury Road, Chippenham

 

Resolved:

 

That the minutes of the meetings detailed above be approved and signed as correct records by the Chairman.

14.

Presentation - Wiltshire Police Licensing Team

Sergeant Leighton Williams and Martin O’Neill (Wiltshire Police Licensing Officer) have been invited to attend the meeting to provide an update on behalf of the Police Licensing Team to the Committee and will also give details of the current structure, partnership working and new initiatives.

Minutes:

Sgt Leighton Williams and Martin O’Neill (Wiltshire Police Licensing Officer) had been invited to provide an update on behalf of the Police Licensing Team to the Committee.  Sgt Williams highlighted the following:

 

·            Late in 2015 Wiltshire Police changed to Community Policing teams taking away the neighbourhood element and putting it back into the response teams.  After 4 years there was a review of this model and it identified that Neighbour Officers were required - that was the role carried out by Sgt Williams – a Neighbourhood Sgt, once of several across the force.  That role also supervises the Police Licensing Officer (Martin O’Neill).  Prior to the changes the Police Licensing Officer roles were supervised by a Sgt with a large portfolio and it was identified that there was a need for them to have top cover from those above in Sgt and Inspector roles;

 

·            The Neighbourhood teams were introduced in December 2019 and the Police Licensing Officers now come under that team.  There were obvious benefits to this – the Police Community Support Officers who are the eyes and ears on the ground feed into the intelligence and information sharing picture and assist the Police Licensing Officers by conducting tasks for and with the Licensing Officers e.g. premises visits etc.  Operationally it gives them more support and there is a more joined up approach and the information sharing is there, so it all works well; and

 

·            The Neighbourhoods team have a weekly tasking and briefing meeting which the Licensing Officers sit in on this then produces a weekly priority list and tasking and briefing slides which are shared with Officers at the start of every shift.  E.g. if there are particular premises that are causing concern, the Licensing Officer would raise it as a concern, highlight it to the Police Officers that cover that area and also put a slide up for it to be briefed to them.  That then gives the Licensing Officers the top cover and support and allows the Sgt to assess and check that the visits are being carried out in a more accountable way.

 

Martin O’Neill (Police Licensing Officer) who is also a retired Police Officer was then invited to speak.  Martin highlighted the following:

 

·       The Police feel that they have a really strong partnership working relationship with teams at Wiltshire Council, particularly with Licensing, Trading Standards and Immigration;

 

·       In the future they would like to carry out initiatives such as looking at underage sales, promoting Pubwatch as it’s a useful vehicle for licensees to share their experiences and help keep the night time economy going and for it to be safe; and

 

·       As the Police Licensing Officers are attending the Neighbourhood tasking meetings already referred to, they are able to identify premises that may be used for certain acts of criminality and they can then be targeted appropriately to keep an eye and if necessary, intervene or enforce.

 

Sgt Williams then spoke about the future of Licensing within Wiltshire Police.  Before lockdown the organisation  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

15.

Presentation - Gambling Awareness Support Service

Lizzie Kingsbury (Project Worker Gambling Support Service - South West) has been invited to the Committee to give details of the national Citizens Advice Gambling Support Service.  They have been commissioned by GambleAware to deliver the national Citizens Advice Gambling Support Service (GSS).

Minutes:

Lizzie Kingsbury (Project Worker – Gambling Support Service – South West) had been invited by the Committee to give details of the national Citizens Advice Gambling Support Service. 

 

The slides from the presentation are attached as Appendix 1 to the Minutes.  There would be further documentation to share with the Licensing Committee members following the meeting and this would be done via the Clerk.  Lizzie would also keep the Committee updated with any developments as necessary.

 

The Chairman thanked Lizzie for attending and her presentation and would look forward to any future updates.  The Chairman reported that prior to Covid the Committee had received regular licensing updates and that they had always been concerned about the advertising of gambling and the impact of gambling on young people.  Obviously, the key area of concern was around online gambling and with the Covid situation it was even more likely that there would be an increase in online gambling.

 

Lizzie offered that she would be available to speak to the relevant Licensing Officers and those that deal with the public and provide a more detailed session on gambling awareness.  It was agreed that the contact details would be passed onto the Licensing Manager.

 

Resolved:

 

That the update on gambling awareness be noted by the Committee.

 

Appendix 1 - Gambling Awareness Presentation

Supporting documents:

16.

Briefing Note - Taxi Licensing Line Management Responsibilities

Tom Ince (Principal Compliance Officer) has prepared a briefing note to update the Licensing Committee on the new management responsibilities, reporting lines and team structure for the Taxi Licensing service.

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Tom Ince (Principal Compliance Officer) referred to the briefing note circulated with the Agenda and highlighted the following:

 

·       In March 2020 the Council undertook a senior management restructure.  The taxi licensing team would continue to sit under the enforcement team so that there was good continuity in terms of knowledge and working relationships.  The taxi licencing team would now report directly into Adrian Hampton who is the Head of Service – Highway Operations; and

 

·       Officers were looking forward to making improvements and look at how they could continue to drive the service forward in the future.

 

Resolved:

 

That the update on taxi licensing line management responsibilities be noted.

17.

Briefing Note - Proposed Changes for Taxi Tariff Schedule for Hackney Carriages

Tom Ince (Principal Compliance Officer) has prepared a briefing note to update the Licensing Committee on the latest position in relation to implementing a new schedule of tariffs and fees for hackney carriages in Wiltshire. 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Tom Ince (Principal Compliance Officer) referred to the briefing note circulated with the Agenda and highlighted the following:

 

·       At the Committee meeting in January 2020, Members were asked to give agreement for Officers to commence consultation on a proposal to change the taxi tariffs in Wiltshire.  This came following extensive work to look at ways to increase safeguarding issues, encourage people to use taxis more and to aid recovery of the late-night sectors across the towns;

 

·       The consultation took place successfully in February 2020.  The Council received 257 responses to the consultation, 207 of these from hackney carriage drivers and 50 from the public or businesses.  The 207 responses represented 24% of licensed hackney carriage drivers responding.  10% were in favour of the proposal and 14% were against it.  Most drivers generally had no opinion – they were not for or against the proposals that Officers were trying to put in place to try and stimulate the night time economy in Wiltshire.  There were however pockets of support, mainly in the north and south of the county;

 

·       After reviewing feedback and listening to the views of the trade Officers considered that there could be an option for drivers to be able to charge tariff 2 on a Sunday as that appeared to be the only contentious point to the proposal;

 

·       At the January meeting, Officers were given delegated authority to implement the changes but because of Covid and the additional financial pressures on the Council Officers were not able to get approval for any unbudgeted advertising spend (which is a requirement as per legislation) at this time.  Officers would need to submit a revenue bid as part of the 2021/22 budget setting process amount, and they were hopeful that if this could be approved the changes could then be implemented; and

 

·       Officers wished to assure all that this development had not been stopped, but that there had been a delay, primarily due to Covid and because of the financial impact on the Council.

 

The Chair reminded the Committee of the detailed process that had been undertaken to get to this stage and to reassure that there was a willingness to have a stronger and proactive relationship with the taxi trade now and in the future and those stronger links will move more a more efficient service for all.

 

A Committee Member reported that whilst they had no issue with the recommendations they were concerned about a proposal to suggest that the costs for statutory advertising of the changes could be funded by Area Boards or the Salisbury Recovery Fund as they did not think those were the appropriate places to seek the funding from and that the issue was that unless the funding from the revenue bid was successful, the Council would not be in a position to make any changes to tariffs  again that needed advertising.  If Officers needed support around that as a fundamental part of the service’s regulatory process, then the Member felt that to be denied  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

18.

Dates of Future Committee Meetings

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

 

1 December 2020

1 March 2021.

Minutes:

The next meeting of the Committee would be held on 7 December 2020.

19.

Urgent Items

Any other items of business, which in the opinion of the Chairman, should be taken as a matter of urgency. Urgent items of a confidential nature may be considered under Part II of this agenda.

Minutes:

There were no urgent items.