Agenda and minutes

All Members were present.

The minutes of the Licensing Committee held on 10 November 2016 were agreed as a correct record.

No interests were declared by Members present.

It was confirmed all matters would be considered in public.

The Committee received a presentation from the Council’s Anti-Social Behaviour Investigations Team (ASBIT) regarding their roles and responsibilities with respect to licensing matters.

Managers of the service gave an overview of the Out of Hours element, their key duties under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and how the recently acquired powers of Community Protection Notices (CPNs) and Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) were being used to protect residents.

Key points raised included:

·         Close partnership working with the licensing team;

·         Recent joint work with the Police on problems in Hayes Town Centre, including licenced premises and street drinking;

·         The role of CPNs, how they are issued and how they should relate to a group of people, rather than individuals;

·         That Hillingdon was recognised as a national leader in implementing PSPOs and planned to further update them following public consultation; It was noted that PSPOs had taken over from Controlled Drinking Zones.

·         That a letter had recently gone out to all off-licences setting out the Council and Police’s clear expectations over trading activities and penalties for misuse.

During the presentation, Committee Members made the following comments and observations:

·         The Committee was keen to be involved, via the Chairman, in responding to any consultation in respect of PSPOs.

·         The visibility of ASBIT and their vehicles when they undertook site or unannounced visits;

·         Clarity on the number of CPNs issued over the last year;

·         That it is important for ASBIT, given that it is not a responsible authority, to provide comments on all applications under the Licensing Act that come before a sub-committee;

·         The role of Fixed Penalty notices for street drinking and how they work;

·         Incident numbers to the Out of Hours Service and how they were resourced, prioritised and responded to;

·         Intelligence-led operations with the Police to target particular off-licenses and establishments that may be operating illegally;

·         Street drinking and how the Police and Council should revisit the “reducing the strength” initiative with a joint briefing note to the April meeting. Reference was also made to a drink marking scheme in Slough and that this be included in the report back to the Committee;

·         The importance of CCTV used in premises to provide evidence of malpractice in off-licences.

Following the presentation, Members welcomed the work of the team and thanked officers present for their comments and in answering the varied questions posed.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee:

1.    Input into any upcoming consultation and review of PSPOs;

2.    Request that ASBIT provide comments on all applications under the Licensing Act that come before a sub-committee;

3.    Receive a breakdown of the number of CPNs and FPNs issued over the last year;

4.    Receive a copy of the letter recently sent to off-licences across Hayes Town reminding them of good practices and penalties;

5.    Add to the Forward Planner for the April 2017 meeting, a joint briefing note by the Police and Council on taking forward the “reducing the strength” initiative with details of similar schemes, including drink marking scheme in Slough as part of the report.

Members reviewed upcoming business to the Committee.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee:

1.    Note the Forward Planner.

2.    Add a joint Police/Council update on “reducing the strength” be added to the April meeting.

Relevant Members of the Committee agreed the minutes of a previous Licensing Sub-Committee hearing as a correct record and the Committee then ratified the minutes of the meeting.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the Committee note the decisions of the Licensing Sub-Committees since the last Licensing Committee meeting and;

2)    That the Committee, and Members present at the following Sub-Committees, approve the following minutes as a correct record:

a)    7 November 2016 (Part 1)