Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Ben Lewis.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Ben Lewis.

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 6 October 2015.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 6 October 2015 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 6 October 2015 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman.

Members should notify the Chairman of other business which they wish to be discussed by the Committee at the end of the business set out in the agenda. They must state the circumstances which they consider justify the business being considered as a matter of urgency.

The Chairman will decide whether any item(s) raised will be considered.

There was no notification of other business.

There was no notification of other business.

Members are reminded that any declarations of interest in respect of any business set out in the agenda, should be declared as either a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or Declarable Interest and are required to notify the Chairman of the nature of any interest declared at the commencement of the relevant item on the agenda. Members declaring a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest must withdraw from the meeting for the duration of the item.  Members declaring a Declarable Interest which requires they leave the room under Paragraph 7.4 of the Code of Conduct, can speak on the item, but must leave the room before the debate and vote.

The Chairman advised that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

The Chairman advised that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

To receive petitions, comments and questions from the public. At the time of preparing the agenda no requests to speak had been received.  Any public participation received within the agreed time scale will be notified to Members as soon as practicable.

There was no public participation.

There was no public participation.

ORAL REPORT OF THE LICENSING MANAGER

To consider an oral update from the Licensing Manager on various Licensing matters.

RESOLVED:

(1)     That the oral update report of the Licensing Manager be noted;

(2)     That, in response to the Government consultation on FOBTs in betting offices, the response include the view of the Committee that £20 per play should be the maximum stake, and that consideration should be given to the machines being fitted with a device to ensure a fixed time limit between each play; and

(3)     That the concept of a Licensing Annual Report be supported.

REASON FOR DECISION:  To keep the Committee updated on various Licensing matters.

The Licensing Manager gave an oral update on various Licensing matters.

The Licensing Manager advised that, at the last meeting of the Committee held on 6 October 2015, and in connection with the Licensing Act 2003 Licensing Policy, the Hertfordshire County Council’s Safeguarding Board’s lack of engagement had been raised on a county-wide based, including by the Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire Licensing Group.  The Council’s Policy did highlight the importance NHDC placed on safeguarding and require applicant’s to assess safeguarding risks where appropriate.  All licensed premises had received an Information Handbook and Poster in relation to safeguarding matters, examples of which were circulated at the meeting.

Also at the meeting held on 6 October 2015, and in respect of the Gambling Act 2015 Statement of Principles, the Licensing Manager reminded the Committee that Members had raised concerns regarding the high stakes available with Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) in betting shops (£200 per play).  Through the Institute of Licensing, NHDC took part in a consultation exercise regarding a number of gambling issues, including maximum stakes, and the Government had recently launched a new consultation on proposals arising from the original consultation including: Revised FOBT maximum stakes of either £50, £30, £20 or £2.  He asked for the Committee’s views as to an appropriate response to the consultation.

The Licensing Manager stated that, at the meeting of the Committee held on 12 December 2013, Members had considered and supported a Fee setting Policy based on the Medium Term Financial Strategy inflationary increases each year, other than three-yearly intervals, when full costings would be undertaken to ensure that all reasonable costs were recovered where legislation allowed.  Since then, this had been happening each year.

The Licensing Manager reminded the Committee that new Members needed to be trained before they were able to serve on Licensing Sub-Committees, and felt that it would be appropriate for all Members to undertake periodic re-training due to the many legislative changes in recent years.  He commented that 9 Sub-Committee hearings had been held in 2017, although only 6 of the 14 Members had served on these, making it difficult to arrange hearings.  Evening hearings were becoming more prevalent.  He therefore encouraged Members (especially untrained ones) to contact him as soon as possible to arrange training sessions.  The Chairman endorsed the need for training.

As the “full” Licensing and Appeals Committee met infrequently, the Licensing Manager advised that he proposed to introduce an Annual Report at the end of each Civic Year to outline the work of the small Licensing Team.

To give new Members a flavour of the work of the Team, the Licensing Manager reported that there was currently 2,911 active licences, 250 scheduled annual inspections took place each year, and approximately 200 applications were processed each year, in addition to the day to day work of service requests, customer advice and investigating complaints.

The Licensing Manager explained that a further meeting of the “full” Committee would be arranged for late February/early March 2018, in order to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

REPORT OF THE HEAD OF HOUSING & PUBLIC PROTECTION

To consider proposed amendments to the Street Trading Policy.

Note: Prior to the consideration of this item, Councillor Jim McNally made a Declarable Interest, in view of his role as Chairman of a Community interest company in Baldock responsible for community events.  He chose to remain in the meeting for the duration of the Committee’s debate and vote on the item.

RESOLVED: 

(1)     That the results of the public consultation be noted, and the proposed policy amendments be supported;

(2)     That it be determined that the proposed amendments are minor, in so far as they do not amend the licensing principles or main focus of the existing policy;

(3)     That the Executive Member for Housing and Environmental Health be recommended to approve the Street Trading Policy amendments under Delegated Powers; and

(4)     That officers be requested to continue to investigate the available options, in conjunction with Hertfordshire County Council, in respect of the regulation of tables/chairs and ‘A’ boards.

REASON FOR DECISION:  To ensure that the Council has in place a robust and up to date Street Trading Policy.

[Note: Prior to the consideration of this item, Councillor Jim McNally made a Declarable Interest, in view of his role as Chairman of a Community interest company in Baldock responsible for community events.  He chose to remain in the meeting for the duration of the Committee’s debate and vote on the item.]

Generic comments on Street Trading, Street Collections, House to House Collections and Sex Establishment Policies

The Licensing Manager advised that each of the above four policies before the Committee were existing policies where the review date had passed.  This did not mean that the policies had expired, it just left the Council vulnerable upon challenge through the courts for not keeping the policies under review and ensuring that they were fit for purpose.  All four policies had served their intended purpose well and only needed some amending, rather than complete re-writes.

The Licensing Manager explained that the Council’s Constitution provided for the Cabinet to adopt all new policies, with the exception of the statutory Licensing Act 2003 and Gambling Act 2005 policies, which were reserved by statute for Full Council.  Executive Members had authority under the Constitution to make minor amendments to existing policies, however, the Constitution was silent on the definition of ‘minor’.  Fortunately, each of the existing policies included definitions of minor amendments which, in essence, were any amendments that were not significant, with each policy clearly defining ‘significant’

The Licensing Manager commented that, in addition to considering the content of each amended policy, the Committee would need to determine whether or not it believed the amendments fitted the criteria of ‘minor’ amendments.  If the Committee believed that the amendments were minor then it could recommend adoption to the Executive Member; if the Committee believed the amendments to be anything other than minor than the recommendation for adoption should be forwarded to Cabinet.  It was officers’ opinion that all of the amendments were minor and the Executive Member, Councillor Lovewell, was in attendance at the meeting to listen to the debate in anticipation of the Committee recommending that he would be the appropriate decision-maker.

The Licensing Manager stated that, for each of the four policies, it was proposed not to have a fixed review date, not least due to constantly changing local circumstances and legislative developments.  Instead, if the Committee was in support of the proposal, it was intended to give the responsibility for review of the policies to the Executive Member, who could either determine that they remained fit for purpose, make minor amendments in line with the policy definitions of ‘minor’, or request a full public consultation, with onward recommendation to Cabinet (via the Licensing and Appeals Committee).

Street Trading Policy

The Licensing Manager presented a report of the Head of Housing and Public Protection summarising the responses to the public consultation regarding the Council’s proposed Street Trading Policy, and requesting the Committee to make a recommendation to the Executive Member for Housing and Environmental Health regarding the Policy.  The following appendices were submitted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

REPORT OF THE HEAD OF HOUSING & PUBLIC PROTECTION

To consider proposed amendments to the Street Collections Policy.

RESOLVED: 

(1)     That the results of the public consultation be noted, and the proposed policy amendments, as further amended, be supported;

(2)     That it be determined that the proposed amendments are minor, in so far as they do not amend the licensing principles or main focus of the existing policy; and

(3)     That the Executive Member for Housing and Environmental Health be recommended to approve the Street Collections Policy amendments under Delegated Powers.

REASON FOR DECISION:  To ensure that the Council has in place a robust and up to date Street Collections Policy.

The Licensing Manager presented a report of the Head of Housing and Public Protection in respect of proposed amendments to the Council’s Street Collections Policy, and requesting the Committee to make a recommendation to the Executive Member for Housing and Environmental Health regarding the Policy.  The following appendix was submitted with the report:

Appendix A – Proposed Street Collections Policy including amendments.

The Licensing Manager advised that the Police Factories etc (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1916 required local authorities to maintain a licensing scheme for any collection of money or sale of goods in a street for charitable or other non-commercial (or no private gain) purposes.  A street was defined as any highway (carriageway or footway), including any associated public place, where the public had access, such as shopping arcades, public parks, etc.  The legislation allowed a local authority to prescribe regulations to control street collections and the Council duly adopted the model national conditions prescribed in the Charitable Collections Order 1974.

The Licensing Manager stated that, in general terms, the existing Policy had worked well, other than some worthwhile local and national causes being precluded by the twenty-eight day notice period required for applications.  Officers now believed that a more appropriate and reasonable notice period would be fourteen days, which still allowed sufficient time for the application to being processed and any queries in relation to the intended recipients resolved.  Further, recent events such as the Grenfell Tower tragedy had highlighted that there may be exceptional unforeseen circumstances when fourteen days would be prohibitive.  Therefore, a seven day period was proposed for genuinely exceptional circumstances.

The Licensing Manager commented that Paragraphs 8.11 - 8.14 of the report dealt with the definition of ‘minor’ for the purpose of the Policy.  To assist Members in their deliberations, all proposed amendments had been highlighted in red text.

The Committee debate focussed upon Appendix B to the proposed Policy, which set out the allocated collection sites in each of the District’s four towns.  Members felt that sites adjacent from banks/ATMs should be removed from the list.  The Licensing Manager undertook to amend the list in this regard, in consultation with respective Town Centre Managers, and to perhaps replace the list with a series of Town centre maps showing acceptable collection locations.

          RESOLVED: 

(1)     That the results of the public consultation be noted, and the proposed policy amendments, as further amended, be supported;

(2)     That it be determined that the proposed amendments are minor, in so far as they do not amend the licensing principles or main focus of the existing policy; and

(3)     That the Executive Member for Housing and Environmental Health be recommended to approve the Street Collections Policy amendments under Delegated Powers.

REASON FOR DECISION:  To ensure that the Council has in place a robust and up to date Street Collections Policy.

REPORT OF THE HEAD OF HOUSING & PUBLIC PROTECTION

To consider proposed amendments to the House to House Collections Policy.

RESOLVED: 

(1)     That the results of the public consultation be noted, and the proposed policy amendments be supported;

(2)     That it be determined that the proposed amendments are minor, in so far as they do not amend the licensing principles or main focus of the existing policy; and

(3)     That the Executive Member for Housing and Environmental Health be recommended to approve the House to House Collections Policy amendments under Delegated Powers.

REASON FOR DECISION:  To ensure that the Council has in place a robust and up to date House to House Collections Policy.

The Licensing Manager presented a report of the Head of Housing and Public Protection in respect of proposed amendments to the Council’s House to House Collections Policy, and requesting the Committee to make a recommendation to the Executive Member for Housing and Environmental Health regarding the Policy.  The following appendix was submitted with the report:

Appendix A – Proposed House to House Collections Policy including amendments.

The Licensing Manager advised that the House to House Collections Act 1939 required local authorities to maintain a licensing scheme for any appeal to the public, made by means of visits from house to house (including visits to business premises), for either money or money’s worth (direct debits, goods, etc.).  The collection must only be for charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes (in other words, no commercial or private gain).  The legislation allowed a local authority to prescribe regulations to control house to house collections, and the Council duly adopted the model national conditions prescribed in the House to House Regulations 1963.

The Licensing Manager explained that, in general terms, the existing Policy had worked well, therefore the only proposed amendments were those relating to policy duration made in his opening generic remarks.

The Licensing Manager commented that the definition of minor for the purpose of the Policy was covered in Paragraphs 8.8 - 8.11 of the report.  To assist Members in their deliberations, all proposed amendments had been highlighted in red text.

The Committee expressed concerns regarding house to house collections from those who neither had a national or local permit to undertake such activities.  The Licensing Manager was fully aware of this issue, but had no way of guaranteeing that all collectors would be operating under authorised permits.

          RESOLVED: 

(1)     That the results of the public consultation be noted, and the proposed policy amendments be supported;

(2)     That it be determined that the proposed amendments are minor, in so far as they do not amend the licensing principles or main focus of the existing policy; and

(3)     That the Executive Member for Housing and Environmental Health be recommended to approve the House to House Collections Policy amendments under Delegated Powers.

REASON FOR DECISION:  To ensure that the Council has in place a robust and up to date House to House Collections Policy.

REPORT OF THE HEAD OF HOUSING & PUBLIC PROTECTION

To consider proposed amendments to the Sex Establishment Policy.

RESOLVED: 

(1)     That the results of the public consultation be noted, and the proposed policy amendments, as further amended, be supported;

(2)     That it be determined that the proposed amendments are minor, in so far as they do not amend the licensing principles or main focus of the existing policy; and

(3)     That the Executive Member for Housing and Environmental Health be recommended to approve the Sex Establishment Policy amendments under Delegated Powers.

REASON FOR DECISION:  To ensure that the Council has in place a robust and up to date House to Sex Establishment Policy.

The Licensing Manager presented a report of the Head of Housing and Public Protection in respect of proposed amendments to the Council’s Sex Establishment Policy, and requesting the Committee to make a recommendation to the Executive Member for Housing and Environmental Health regarding the Policy.  The following appendix was submitted with the report:

Appendix A – Proposed amended Sex Establishment Policy.

The Licensing Manager advised that, whilst the Council had a duty, having adopted Schedule 3 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, to regulate sex shops, sex cinemas and sexual entertainment venues, the District currently only had one sex shop on an industrial estate in Hitchin.

The Licensing Manager stated that, in general terms, the Policy had worked well, particularly as the existing business was a long established business of a national operator and the Council had received no other applications or enquiries of this nature.  However, the Council had a duty to ensure that its Policy remained fit for purpose, not only for the existing premises, but for any potential future applicants.  Proposed amendments were highlighted in the report in red text, but could be summarised as follows:

·                Data Exchange – The Policy now clarified the Council’s intention to exchange data where appropriate for the purpose of detecting or preventing crime;

·                Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults - Given the proliferation of national safeguarding concerns, the Policy had been strengthened to state that significant weight would be placed on safeguarding matters when assessing an applicant’s suitability to hold a licence;

·                Fees - Historically, many Councils chose to set fees for sex establishments at levels intended to act as a deterrent rather than a level that accurately reflected reasonable costs allowed by licensing fee common law.  The recent high profile case of Hemming that was concluded in the Supreme Court following a ruling of the European Court had clearly stated the licensing fee position for sex establishment licensing and the Policy now sought to encompass these principles;

·                Standard Licence Conditions - The existing Policy focussed predominately on conditions that were appropriate to sex shops, with little focus on sexual entertainment venues and no focus on sex cinemas.  This would leave the Council vulnerable if it received an application for a sexual entertainment venue or a sex cinema, as there would be no policy to justify the imposition of any appropriate conditions.  To resolve this shortcoming, the proposed amendments sought to establish a generic set of conditions for all sex establishments, with specific conditions for sex shops, sex cinemas, and sexual entertainment venues.  Little change was needed for the sex shop conditions as they were working well currently, however, a new set of conditions was proposed for sex cinemas based on apparent best practice across the country.  The existing conditions for sexual entertainment venues (predominately lap dancing and pole dancing clubs) had been expanded to include increased protection for the public, both on and off the premises, particularly those that were vulnerable, and increased protection for performers within these establishments.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.