Agenda and minutes

Apologies had been received from Councillors Roy Chamdal and Jazz Dhillon.

There were no declarations of interest notified.

The minutes of the meetings held on 16 April and 14 May 2015 were agreed as a correct record.

16 April 2015 Minutes Updates

Minute 28 - Community & Ancillary Sellers Notice - The Committee was informed that the announcement Order was still awaited from Central Government, once this had been received the fees could be set.

Minute 29 - Reducing the Strength Update - Surveys in Uxbridge and Hayes had taken place but the initiative was currently on hold due to other commitments.

The Committee received an update from officers in relation to a recent Public Health Licensing Conference.  The report provided Members with the guidance from  Public Health England on the current powers Licensing Authority's currently have to reduce alcohol related harm. Members were informed that Public Health was one of the responsible authorities and they were consulted on new and variations to licences and on licensing policy reviews.

Members raised concerns that not all responsible authorities responded to consultations on licensing applications and felt that even if they had no concerns, a response should be provided.  It was the Committee's view that these should then be included in the report to the Licensing Sub-Committees.

Officers appreciated Members concerns but explained that they were exploring a way of bringing this information forward for the sub-committees. It was explained that the hearing regulations stated that only relevant representation should be put before Licensing Sub-Committees.  Any responsible authority's (RA) representations in reports meant that all parties should have an opportunity to ask questions about them.

It was Members view that this information needed to be included when sub-committees were considering licensing applications. It showed residents, which responsible authorities had no concerns about an application.  It would also enable members to make an informed decision and to decide if the information that was provided was relevant or not.

The Committee felt that including RA responses in reports would show interested parties that the licensing application had been seen by RAs and that they had no concerns.

The Legal officer suggested that a compromise might be to consider providing information about the history of premises in the report.

The members re-iterated the importance they placed on the responses from RAs being included in the report especially now that Public Health fell within the remit of the Council.

Officers agreed to look at the concerns raised by the Committee and to explore the matter further.

Clarification was sought on the Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA).

Officers explained that Cumulative Impact Policies (CIPs) related to stress areas to enable a cap to be put on hours of operation on certain category of premises, including off licences. Although the Council already has powers in relation to licensing and gambling premises, there has never been justification for its use in the Borough so far. Officers advised that they worked closely with the police and before any issues escalated, work with licence holders was undertaken.  If this did not help then the review process was implemented.

A member asked that if there were no stress areas in the Borough why the Street Angels had been in operation in the area.

The Police felt that the Street Angels operated in areas where they lived and their presence was welcomed. In answer to a question raised in relation to stress areas, it was felt that there were not sufficient issues in the Borough to bring a CIP into force. 

The Chairman asked officers to invite an officer from Public Health to the next Licensing Committee meeting to provide information on the statistics for alcohol related Accident and Emergency admissions.

Resolved - That the report be noted.