Agenda item

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 only consider whether or not it meets the four licensing objectives.  It may be possible to put something into the Policy as an advisory in relation to fast food outlets but detailed legal advice could be taken on this as it does not fit in with the licensing objectives and aims.  Once legal advice is taken this could be reported back to Members.

Q        Are the drinking establishments (Officer’s mess etc) “behind the wire” at military bases monitored?

A        Anything “behind the wire” is not licensable by the Licensing Authority.  The Authority is looking at the possible impacts of the Army Rebasing in the area.

Q        Is there any help from the military to help with the impact of the Army Rebasing on the night time economy in the area.

A        We are aware that resourcing is an issue for many agencies.  This would be a discussion needed by those higher up in the chain.

Resolved:

That the Licensing Committee:

1.          Requests Officers to carry out a 12-week consultation process on the proposed Statement of Licensing Policy 2019-2024.

2.          Note that at its meeting in September 2019, the Committee will be required to consider commending for approval the finalised statement of Licensing Policy to Full Council.