Issue - meetings

To provide the Committee with a summary of licensing activity during the reporting year.

RESOLVED: That the Committee:

(1) Reviewed the Annual Report and commented on its content.

(2) Noted the Annual Report.

REASON FOR DECISIONS: Section 8.2.3 of the Council Constitution requires the Full Committee to meet at least once per civic year and section 8.2.3 (d) requires the Committee ‘to receive an annual report on licensing activities including performance information’.

Audio recording – 4 minutes 20 seconds

The Licensing and Community Safety Manager presented the report entitled ‘Annual Licensing Report 2022-2023’ and advised of the following that:

·       The Committee had previously expressed a desire to see the number of inspections increased from the low number completed in in the previous reporting year. For this reporting year, the number of inspections had risen to 213, with a focus on high risk areas as requested by the Committee.

·       The current number of applications was shown in appendix A.

·       The number of applications had grown and was at the highest level since pre pandemic, temporary event notices (TEN’s) had returned to pre pandemic levels.

·       Licenses were at their highest level since these reports were established, however the recovery had been at the loss of some smaller independent businesses.

·       Service requests were down, but this can be explained by the channel shift of combining appointments which had improved customer service and efficiency.

·       Licensing fees were set in accordance with a resolution of the committee from 2013 and consideration should be given to whether this needed to be reviewed as it allowed discounts for non-commercial entities.

·       There had been one Licensing Sub-Committee hearing in 2022-23 and the Licensing team had encouraged mediation prior to any hearing being convened.

·       The Street Trading Policy was reviewed after consultation with the Chair of the Licensing and Regulation Committee and the Executive Member for Housing and Environmental Health.

·       Work was ongoing on a review of the Statement of Gambling Principal Policy which would require, a public consultation, a review from this Committee and then approval from Full Council before the end of 2024.

·       There would be some small changes to the Charitable Collection Policy.

·       The Council had not adopted a Caravan, Camping and Mobile Home Sites Policy. Inspections had been carried out on these sites using the proposed model standard and a public consultation was expected for early next year.

·       The Taxi and Private Hire Policy set in 2020 would need to be reviewed next year, the current policy offered discounted fees for hybrid and electric cars and encouraged the move to Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEV) by 2028.

·       Funding had been awarded from the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for the Women and Girls Safety Charter but not yet received.

·       A review of the Taxi and Private Hire licenses had been undertaken, with consultation from the trade association regarding changes to renewals and had some further simplifications pending. 

·       The Licensing team were now fully qualified and had gained additional qualifications in Animal Inspections and Fire Risk Assessment, generating a cost saving as these inspections had previously been outsourced.

·       Skin piercing registration had increased, believed to be a reaction to the anticipated Health and Care Act 2022 and the introduction of new legislation.

·       The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill had been withdrawn, but there had been a ban imposed on importing young, pregnant, or mutilated dogs and primates.

·       There was a new Supporting Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023, regarding  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19