Agenda item

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 accommodation that was exempt from being registered as a House of Multiple Occupants (HMO) which included refuges and local authority hostels.

The following Members asked questions:

·       Councillor Gerald Morris

·       Councillor Nigel Mason

·       Councillor Ian Albert

·       Councillor Elizabeth Dennis

·       Councillor Alistair Willoughby

·       Councillor Tom Tyson

In response to questions the Licensing and Community Safety Manager stated that:

·       Most scrap metal licenses were for three years and controlled by the Scrap Metal Dealers Act and covered financial transactions and their site management.

·       No scrap metal inspection had been conducted as this area was considered as a low risk.  Mobile scrap metal collectors often had out of district licences and work was ongoing with the collectors and the local police as a license was required from all authorities where collections are made.

·       The Licensing Act and the Gambling Act had fees set by central Government and had not increased since 2005.

·       All other fees were set locally, with the limitation that just reasonable costs for administration and enforcements can be achieved.

·       Event pricing for TEN’s was set by Central Government, for an event up to five thousand people the cost was £100 and for large scale events as seen at Knebworth the cost was £40,395.

·       Park homes would be covered by the Camping and Caravan Policy, and it would be a sensible suggestion to include this in the policy name.

·       There had been ten inspections of park home sites with one site being advised of a breach of the minimal distance and work was ongoing with Officers to resolve this matter. The other nine sites had no reported problems.

·       There were 38 valid licences for HMO, which was considered low, a trawl of the district had not confirmed any new sites. Often it was the public or the Revenue and Benefits team that informed the Council of a new HMO.

·       An HMO could only be refused on the grounds of unsuitable housing standards, parking or antisocial behaviour grounds are not relevant under the legislation and planning permission was only required for a dwelling with six or more bedrooms or housing seven or more occupants.

·       It was acknowledged that the report should state North Hertfordshire Charter at paragraph 12.13.

·       Some licensing applications were received through an agent or solicitor at a cost to the applicant, this was viewed as a service opportunity for the Licensing team to manage in 2024.

·       A pre application service for new Taxi and Private Hire applicants and a training course advising on access for wheelchair and assistance dog users in licensed vehicles had been considered.

·       There would be a soft launch of the Women and Girls Safety Charter at a venue in Letchworth during November including training materials and speakers, all licensed premises are invited to attend. The Charter will be rolled out in Hitchin and then the other towns, all licensed premises are encouraged to join, and this is being promoted by the Pub Watch group.

·       The Street Trading Policy had been adopted by the Council for the four towns in the District. At the time it was deemed that the villages had very few street trading incidents, although if evidence was provided, then Council could consider updating the areas of the policy.

Councillor Daniel Allen proposed and Councillor Elizabeth Dennis seconded and, following a vote, it was:

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’.