Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies and details of any substitutions.

Apologies were received from Cllrs Allison Bucknell, Graham Payne and Jerry Wickham and from Tracy Daszkiewicz (Director – Public Health and Protection). 

Cllr Peter Evans was substituting for Cllr Allison Bucknell.

To confirm and sign the minutes of the meetings held on 3 and 26 September 2018 (copies attached).

The minutes of the meetings held on 3 and 26 September 2018 were presented to the Committee.

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meetings held on 3 and 26 September 2018 be approved and signed as a correct record.

The Chairman, Councillor Peter Hutton made the following announcement:

In January 2019, a meeting was held with the lead Licensing Officers and forthcoming items for consideration by Committee were discussed.  It was agreed that if a planned Committee meeting was expected to be light or there was no decision making business, the meeting slot would be used to provide a training session for Members.  It was planned that there would be a training session in place of/following (as appropriate) the next meeting on 3 June 2019.

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 4 March 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 6 March. 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 had been submitted to the Committee from the public prior to the meeting. 

Amanda Newbery (Chair of the Salisbury Purple Flag) was present and reported that she was interested to hear the discussions on Agenda items 7 (Statement of Licensing Policy) and 8 (Consideration of the report of the Late-Night Taxi Fares Task Group). 

Amanda felt that the revised Statement of Licensing Policy was very good, and she would look forward to participating in the consultation when this was available.

Amanda reported that she is part of the Economic and Regeneration Team in Salisbury working on the High Street bid to get young people using the night time economy in Salisbury and that taxis are the life blood for young people due to the rural areas.  She was present today to try to understand the rationale behind decisions being made.

Robert Logue was also present at the meeting to observe.  He is a member of Salisbury PubWatch and was interested in the discussions on the review of taxi tariffs. 

Julia Hiystek (Local Democracy reporter) was present from the Wiltshire Times/Gazette & Herald. 

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

Northern Area

05/10/18       Application for a Variation of a Premises Licence – Whitehall Garden Centre, Corsham Road, Lacock

22/10/18       Review of a Premises Licence, Royal Sports Bar and Cue Club, Ivy Road Industrial Estate, Ivy Road, Chippenham

Eastern Area

12/12/18       Application for a Premises Licence, The George Narrowboat, Devizes Wharf

Southern Area

14/05/18       Application for a Premises Licence – Chalke Valley History Festival, Church Bottom, Broad Chalke, Salisbury

10/09/18       Application for a Variation of a Premises Licence - The Bank Cocktail Lounge & Events, 18 High Street, Amesbury

Appeal against a Refusal of a Street Trading Consent

23/01/19       Appeal against a refusal for a Street Trading Consent for a Kebab Van in George Lane Car Park, Marlborough

Northern Area

05/10/18       Application for a Variation of a Premises Licence – Whitehall Garden Centre, Corsham Road, Lacock

22/10/18       Review of a Premises Licence, Royal Sports Bar and Cue Club, Ivy Road Industrial Estate, Ivy Road, Chippenham

Eastern Area

12/12/18       Application for a Premises Licence, The George Narrowboat, Devizes Wharf

Southern Area

14/05/18       Application for a Premises Licence – Chalke Valley History Festival, Church Bottom, Broad Chalke, Salisbury

10/09/18       Application for a Variation of a Premises Licence - The Bank Cocktail Lounge & Events, 18 High Street, Amesbury

Appeal against a Refusal of a Street Trading Consent

23/01/19       Appeal against a refusal for a Street Trading Consent for a Kebab Van in George Lane Car Park, Marlborough

Resolved:

That the Minutes of the meeting detailed above be approved and signed as correct records by the Chairman.

The report of Linda Holland (Licensing Manager) seeks to provide background informationconcerningthe new proposed StatementofLicensingPolicy and to recommend that theLicensing Committee request officers to carry out a full consultation of the updated Statement of Licensing Policy.

Linda Holland (Licensing Manager) referred to the report circulated with the Agenda which gave the Committee background information concerning the new proposed Statement of Licensing Policy and requested approval for Officers to commence a full consultation on the proposed Policy.  Linda highlighted the following:

·            In order for the Licensing Authority to discharge its licensing functions it is required to draw up a Statement of Licensing Policy under the Licensing Act.  This Policy is to be reviewed every five years and be the subject of a full consultation process.  The last Policy was approved in 2014 and if approved today, an extensive 12-week public consultation would commence on the amended Policy;

·            There had been a number of legislative changes since the publication of the last Policy which included:

i)              April 2017 – The Immigration Act 2016 made substantial changes to the Licensing Act 2003.  In summary these were to introduce a “Right to Work” test for applications; provide enforcement powers to the Home Office Immigration Team and to include them as a Responsible Authority.  This has been added to the Crime and Disorder Licensing objective.

ii)      April 2015 – The Legislative Reform (Entertainment Licensing) Order 2014 made substantial changes to the Licensing Act 2003 which removed the requirement for many forms of entertainment to be licensed under the Licensing Act 2003.

·            The new sections and updates to the Policy were detailed in the summary of changes on page 133 of the Agenda;

·            A number of processes had also been updated, including the inclusion of Public Health as a Responsible Authority;

·            Wiltshire seems to attract lots of festivals and events and the proposed Policy seeks to set the scene of what is expected of existing and new licence holders in Wiltshire; and

·            Members were asked to approve the draft Policy, give agreement to start the consultation process with a view to a finalised Policy being brought back to the Committee in September 2019 which would then go to Council in October for final ratification.

The Chairman thanked Officers for the preparation of the Policy and reported that he felt it was a proactive and engaging document.

The following questions were asked by the Licensing Committee Members:

Q        Are the military, PubWatch and the Chippenham and Salisbury BID included as part of the consultation?

A        This is a public consultation open to all and the Licensing Team will look to engage with all.  The draft Policy will go to PubWatch meetings and on the Council’s website.

Q        Some constituents feel that the Licensing Policy and the Council’s Obesity Strategy conflict each other – are Public Health consulted on applications?

A        We must judge applications on how they meet the Licensing Objectives, although Linda Holland had recently met with Public Health colleagues to discuss the issue as under the Licensing Act 2003 and current guidance we cannot refuse a licence because someone is selling unhealthy food such as ‘burgers’.  We cannot differentiate between a café or a public house – we can  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Licensing Committee are asked to note the final report of the Late Night Taxi Fares Task Group that was presented to Environment Select Committee on 8 January 2019 and to give their views on the recommendations that are proposed to enable the Cabinet Member to prepare a response.

The Chairman referred to the final report of the late-night Taxi Fares Task Group (set up by Environment Select Committee) which had been circulated with the Agenda. 

Cllr Jerry Wickham, the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Public Health and Public Protection was not able to be present at the meeting as intended, but wished for a statement to be read out on his behalf and this is below:

“The issue before you this morning is that in 2014 this authority introduced a new policy and practices associated with the licensing of taxis. This included the harmonisation of tariffs. Since being the Cabinet Member having responsibility for this area, I have fairly routinely been contacted by representatives from Salisbury’s night time economy seeking a review of these policies. I had consistently refused to entertain any review stating that the circumstances had not radically changed. However, after the Salisbury incident and especially the recovery phase, I was asked to reconsider my decision which I agreed to do. Accordingly, I then invited the Environment Select Committee to instigate a review and this they subsequently undertook by way of a Task Group under the chairmanship of Cllr Graham Payne.

The findings of this task group are summarised in the report before you all and you will note that there are five recommendations. Essentially, the first two relate to the issues of the tariffs and the remainder linked to driver qualifications, CCTV in vehicles and the number of vehicles with disabled facilities vehicles. I very much welcome these findings and wish to again offer my thanks to Cllr Payne and his Councillor colleagues as well as all the witnesses that provided evidence to the task group.

In terms of moving forward, in the last few weeks central Government has indicated that it has a number of new proposals coming down the line leading to legislative changes. To therefore instigate too much work, especially over driver qualifications and suitability as well as CCTV, would be premature and at this time, I do not know the full extent of the proposed changes and what further impact they might make.

Accordingly, I am proposing that for the present time, we should pause on undertaking too much further work albeit in your capacity Mr Chairman you might wish to continue looking at the tariff issue. On that basis, I understand that you might wish to consider, through the Licensing Committee, a further detailed examination of the tariffs by instigating your own Working Group to enable a county wide appreciation to be factored into this discussion. Should you wish to do so, I know that officers and myself would be only too pleased to assist this group through its work. You will also appreciate that I will look very carefully at your findings moving forward and would welcome any such approach.”

Julie Anderson-Hill (Head of Service, Culture and Operational Change) reported that the Department for Transport were currently carrying out consultation to seek views on proposed statutory guidance to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

The briefing note (which has been prepared by Linda Holland (Licensing Manager) seeks to update the Licensing Committee on the implementation of the new Animal Activities Regulations in Wiltshire.

Linda Holland (Licensing Manager) referred to the Briefing Note on the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 that was circulated with the Agenda.  Linda highlighted the following:

·       The changes in legislation had had a significant impact on the Council’s animal licencing regime and the smooth implementation of the new regulations could not have taken place without the hard work and flexibility of the whole Licensing Team who were strongly supported by the dog wardens who assisted with inspections;

·       The DEFRA guidance introduced to assist with the interpretation of the legislation had already been changed significantly and it had even been the case that during inspections, those being inspected had produced documentation from DEFRA referring to changes that been made that had not been communicated to the Local Authority;

·       Four licensing seminars took place in October 2018 with over 200 members of the animal licensed trade using the opportunity to learn about the implementation and potential impact of the new regulations;

·       Under the old licensing legislations (prior to December 2018) there were 269 licences.  Over 190 have been re-licensed (some of these are now combined licences).  It is pleasing to note that many these establishments received a 5 star – 3-year licence.  There were only a few who received a 1/2-star rating and a 1-year licence.  Those establishments will receive unannounced inspections going forward;

·       To date, five establishments have had their applications refused, with two of these now having been re-inspected and licences granted.  There had been no legal challenge to the new processes and no appeals against the decisions made.  The Authority now have more powers under the legislation and can suspend or downgrade a rating if standards are not continuing to be met;

The Licensing Committee members asked the following questions:

Q        Have you considered putting on a review style seminar to the trade to gauge opinion on how things are going?

A        I am not sure what that would offer to the trade, but we may consider it if there are further changes introduced.

Q        Do you receive intelligence/tip offs on establishments/breeders that may be unlicensed?

A        We do follow up on any intelligence received; we proactively seek them and make them aware of the legislation.  We have contacted about a dozen establishments that we were aware of and these have come forward and are now in the licensing process.

Q        I assume there are a limited number of establishments/breeders that are outside of the licensing scope that DEFRA wanted to pick up within this legislation?

A        We educate the public on puppy buying and encourage those wishing to buy a puppy to look at the list of registered dog breeders on the public register on our website.  Vets may also make us aware of breeders that we can check.  A dog can have up to 3 litters before they come into the regime as a dog breeder.

Q        Do we share information with our neighbouring authorities and highlight any known problem establishments?

A        Yes,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

This update has been prepared by Linda Holland (Licensing Manager) and seeks to update the Committee on the work of the Licensing Team in 2018/ early 2019.

Linda Holland (Licensing Manager) referred to the update on the Licensing Service which had been circulated with the Agenda.  Linda highlighted the following:

·       It was intended that a training session for Members would be held in place of/following the next meeting on 3 June 2019 on TENS and large event applications;

·       Wiltshire is a popular venue for festivals and other large-scale events – the prevention of harm is a key element when planning an event and Licensing Officers are involve in considerable pre-event work to guide organisers to manage their own event to lessen the impact on the local community and emergency services;

·       Some events are supported through the Event Safety Advisory Group (ESAG) which is a forum where the organisers of events meet with the responsible authorities including the emergency services to discuss details of the event and any potential issues.  More ESAG meetings are planned to date than were held for the whole of last year;

·       We have been working together with Swindon Licensing and Wiltshire Police to promote the “Ask for Angela” campaign which was launched in October 2018;

·       In April 2017 the Home Office Immigration department became a Responsibility Authority under the Licensing Act and we have carried out two joint visits to premises where it was suspected that illegal workers were present; and

·       A large number of applications for licences continue to be received with over 2000 TEN applications.  To date in 2019, no Licensing Sub Committee hearings had been required.

John Carter (Head of Service – Public Protection) reported that the Public Protection Service had a restructure at the end of 2018 and seven Heads of Service were reduced to three.  Linda and her team now come under John.

The Chairman thanked Officers for their work, noting their increased workload in recent months with the Animal Licensing legislation changes.  He was pleased to note that the Licensing and Public Health Teams are now an integrated service.

The Licensing Committee Members asked the following questions:

Q        Are you responsible for licensing of Swindon premises?

A        No.

Q        Have there been any appeals to the Magistrates Court to challenge any of the decisions made by the Licensing Sub Committee in the last year?

A        No.

Q        The ESAG is a great tool, how many are usually held per year?

A        Last year there were 15 ESAG meetings held but while a high profile and useful group, they can only advise on events (i.e. they cannot stop events being held) as they are considered to be a guidance tool.

Linda Holland asked if Members still found the weekly list of applications that she circulated to be useful?  Members confirmed that they did.  Linda advised Members would be notified of any applications in their Ward and if they had any queries about applications in their ward or other areas they should contact the relevant Licensing Officer.

Linda Holland agreed to send out details to Members about the “Ask for Angela” Scheme.

Resolved:

That the Licensing Committee note the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

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

3 June 2019

2 September 2019

2 December 2019

2 March 2020.

Members noted the date of future meetings of the Licensing Committee as detailed below, all to start at 10.30am:

3 June 2019

2 September 2019

2 December 2019

2 March 2020.

There were no urgent items.