Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Carol Melvin, Jazz Dhillon and John Morse.

No interests were declared by Members present.

The minutes of the meeting held on 15 October 2015 were agreed as a correct record.

This was confirmed.

The Director of Public Health for Hillingdon, Dr Steve Hajioff gave a presentation to the Committee about the relationship between public health and the licensing functions of the Council.

An engaging discussion took place by Members on the topics raised, of which the salient points included:

·         An understanding of the history of public health and how it had developed into a broader concept over time;

·         The unknown health effects of alcohol addiction, such as dementia along with better intelligence on where drunken behaviour takes place and where Emergency Services are required to attend for drug and alcohol intoxication;

·         That alcohol addiction problems were greater in the North of the Borough due to the more affluent population and that Brunel University's presence in Uxbridge was likely to skew results of alcohol related presentations at A&E;

·         The recent changes brought in by the UK Government in relation to guidance on safe levels of drinking alcohol, where Members sought further clarification on;

·         The importance of encouraging good nutrition and healthy eating in terms of light night refreshment licensing, street trading and markets;

·         The move towards electronic cigarettes and vaping and how the Council can discourage such use in licenced premises, noting that in Wales, that the Assembly intended to pass a law to ban such devices in specific places;

·         The worrying trend of Shisha Pipes and usage, which posed a far greater public health risk than ordinary smoking and understanding the limited role the Council had in prohibiting this legal high.

·         Concerns about possible HPV transmission amongst users of e-cigarettes and Shisha Pipes, which could lead to cancer. Members felt this message needed to be re-enforced within local communities.

·         Outdoor smoking areas, secondary smoking and the increase in noise as a result was flagged as an issue Members have had to tackle previously at licensing sub-committee hearings.

·         The risks of psychoactive substances such as Nitrogen Dioxide were explored along with how the Police had recently tackled sales of this in local stores.

Members welcomed the recent representations from Public Health in relation to licensing applications and discussed what further assistance the Public Health Team could provide going forward in order to give Members a wider spectrum of evidence when considering applications.

The Committee expressed its sincere thanks to the Director on a useful presentation. During the discussion on the matter, the Committee requested the following actions:

RESOLVED:

That:

1.    Information on the percentage of people presented at local A&E with alcohol related issues be provided to Committee Members.

2.    The Committee would welcome further liaison between the Public Health Team and the NHS in an effort to gather greater intelligence on A&E presentations and pick-up points by Emergency Services of intoxicated individuals etc..., in order to gain a better picture of problem areas or clusters in the Borough to inform the licensing sub-committees when making decisions about premises.

3.    The Public Health Team provide Members with further details on the new guidelines brought in by the UK Government on safe alcohol consumption.

4.      Information be provided to Members on the proposals in Wales to limit e-cigarette use and vaping.

5.    Licensing Officers be requested to consider informatives when making recommendations on licences in order to discourage use of e-cigarettes and vaping inside premises.

6.    The Public Health Team provide Members with information about the transmission of HPV through newer forms of smoking and recommend consideration be given to increased publicity of this relatively unknown risk, including a fact sheet for Members.

The Licensing Officer informed Members about the responses to the recent consultations on the Street Trading, Markets, Gambling and Licensing Policies which has been recommended by Cabinet to Council for adoption, where required. The Committee welcomed the adoption of many of their comments on the policies during the consultation phase.

The Chairman updated Members and the Director of Public Health present about the recent review by a Working Group of the External Services Scrutiny Committee into A&E admissions of under 18s in relation to alcohol. It was noted that whilst the figures in Hillingdon appeared high compared to neighbouring areas, the actual volume of cases were low. The review would be presented to Cabinet shortly with recommendations to improve cross-agency monitoring of this.

The Metropolitan Police representative informed Members of recent Test Purchase Operations in relation to off-licenses. It was welcomed that procedures had recently been updated to ensure follow up visits by Police Cadets along with improved record keeping. Members requested regular reporting back to the Committee and improved liaison by Trading Standards in relation to the sale of alcohol to underage children.

RESOLVED:

That:

1.    The Metropolitan Police Service provide regular updates to the Committee on recent Test Purchase Operations and their success.

2.    That the Council's Trading Standards Team strengthens its liaison on such matters with the Metropolitan Police and the sales of alcohol to underage children.

The legal update was noted by Members, in particular how new regulations coming into effect would require trade buyers, for example, off licences or restaurants, who buy their alcohol from UK wholesalers for resale, to make sure that such wholesalers are approved by HMRC. Members were informed that the check would be made using an online look up service, however, it was felt that this was wholly insufficient in terms of providing confidence to users and the Committee proposed other forms of approval logos or badging, similar to other consumer protection schemes.

RESOLVED:

That the Legal Advisor draft a letter for the Chairman to send on behalf of the Committee to the relevant Government Minister detailing the proposal for improved badging and awareness of this scheme to buyers.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee note the updated Forward Planner.

Relevant Members of the Committee agreed minutes of previous licensing sub-committee hearings as a correct record and the Committee then ratified the minutes of the meetings.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee:

1)    Note the decisions of the Licensing Sub-Committees since the last Licensing Committee meeting;

2)    Note and ratify the minutes of the Licensing Sub-Committee meetings dated:

a)    13 October 2015 (Part 1 & Part 2);

b)   16 October 2015: RE: Bar (Part 1 & Part 2);

c)    16 October 2015: Uxbridge Flower Stall (Part 1)

d)   6 November 2015 (Part 1)

e)    26 November 2015 (Part 1 & Part 2).