Agenda and minutes

It was confirmed that all items on the agenda would be considered in public.

Agreed as an accurate record.

Members were reminded that at the last meeting of the Committee, Members received evidence from a number of offices from within the Council, who explained their role in relation the controls which should be in place for Shisha Bars, Lounges and Cafes.

Reference was made to a report which had been commissioned by Westminster City Council which looked at the public health implications of Shisha Smoking.

The Committee discussed the appropriateness of the recommendations to Hillingdon and it was agreed that consideration should be given to the following recommendations and that for the next meeting of the Committee, officers provide comments on these suggestions.

1.LAs with a low number of shisha premises and mildly   perceived problem related to the shisha industry should develop a preventive approach to ensure uncontrolled proliferation of shisha premises does not occur.

2. Managers of shisha premises should be encouraged to learn management techniques and attend workshops in an attempt to prevent their customers from creating antisocial behaviour.

3. Shisha premises should be monitored for alcohol use inside the pipe. While this is currently legal, LA staff should be aware of this practice and report it.

4. Shisha premises should be monitored for recreational drug use and use of other illicit substances.

5. Shisha premises that have an alcohol license should be monitored for this.

6.  LAs should ensure they have adequate out of hours support for enforcing legislation on shisha premises, as non-compliance is likely to increase at unsociable hours of trading. 

[Officers suggested that the Committee could consider recommending that the Anti-Social Behaviour Investigation Team's Out of Hours service,  in partnership with Licensing Services, conduct regular patrols of existing & all new shisha premises to ensure compliance with legislation relating to nuisance & anti-social behaviour. These visits would also be utilised as an intelligence gathering tool to assist & support partner agencies across the enforcement services.

Also consideration could also be given to recommending that additional suitably qualified, and/or experienced regulatory staff from existing services were authorised to enable the service of Fixed Penalty Notices on individuals smoking in a smoke free place.]

7. Health warnings / Labelling of Shisha products is subject to legal requirements as with all tobacco products. The Trading Standards Service advises premises in the Borough on such matters in accordance to the guidance 'Implementation of smokefree legislation in England' produced jointly by the CIEH (Chartered Institute of Environmental Health) and CTSI (Chartered Trading Standards Institute).

8. Guidance and advice provided to shisha premises owners should include an emphasis on the current legal state of herbal (non-tobacco) shisha , that was it was covered by the Smokefree law, it can be sold to under eighteens, it was not liable for duty payments nor was it a requirement to display health warnings.

9. Environmental health officers should maximise communication lines via Health & Safety Liaison Groups and Health & Safety Quadrants to raise shisha issues with colleagues across London and encourage a more consistent enforcement approach.

10.A useful adjunct to evidence gathering was the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

The Council's Head of Green Spaces, Sport & Culture attended the meeting and provided an update on the progress made in implementing this Committee's recommendation on the review undertaken in 2013 on the Regulations and Byelaws relating to Cemeteries and Burial Grounds within Hillingdon.

Members were provided with details of the various works and initiatives which were taking place across the various sites within the Borough.  

Discussion took place on the recommendation relating to officers investigating introducing leaflets and a booklet, which would summarise key elements of the regulations which would be circulated to bereaved families via Funeral Directors.

The Committee was informed that the key elements of the regulations were on the Council's website and these were communicated to Funeral Directors to communicate to bereaved families.

There was concern expressed by Members that information on the website was not sufficient to enable the message to get across to all communities in the Borough. This was asked to be revisited again, should there still be a problem with non-compliance of the Regulations and Byelaws.    

RESOLVED –

1.That the information provided be noted.

Noted. Members were informed that both the Noise Supplementary Planning Document and the Accessible Hillingdon Supplementary Planning Document, would be brought to the Committee for comments.

The Committee noted the report and that at the next meeting of the Committee, Members would be asked to consider possible review topics for the next Municipal Year.

Areas mentioned included, Cycle paths / lanes, Road Safety, Pelican Crossings and Zebra Crossings.

Noted.