Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairman for the 2019/2020 municipal year

Cllr J Cairney was elected Chairman for the municipal year 2019-2020.

(Proposed by Cllr L D Taylor and seconded by Cllr J M Downes)

To elect a Vice Chairman for the 2019/2020 municipal year

Cllr D Coren was elected Vice Chairman for the municipal year 2019-2020.

(Proposed by Cllr S J Penny and seconded by Cllr J M Downes)

To receive any apologies for absence and notices of appointment of Substitute Members (if any).

Apologies were received from Cllrs Mrs E M Andrews, T G Hughes and Miss J Norton

Councillors are reminded of the requirement to declare any interest, including the type of interest, and reason for that interest, either at this stage of the meeting or as soon as they become aware of that interest.

There were no declarations made

To receive any questions relating to items on the agenda from members of the public and replies thereto.

There were no members of public present

Members to consider whether to approve the minutes as a correct record of the meeting held on 1^st March 2019.

The committee is reminded that only those Members present at the previous meeting should vote and, in doing so, should be influenced only by seeking to ensure that the minutes are an accurate record.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 1^st March 2019 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman

To receive a verbal report presented by the Lead Licensing Officer on work of the Licensing Team and any enforcement action taken.

The Specialist Lead Licensing Officer addressed the Committee and explained the remit of the Licensing Committee.

He explained that there were 351 licensed premises in the District and the Licensing Team had completed risk assessments of all of them. Included within the assessment were the hours of operation, location of premises and compliance to existing policy; the premises where then rated.

High risk premises were inspected regularly and low risk premises were  normally only inspected after complaints from the public.

76 premises had been inspected in the past 12 months (21% of the total) now that a pro active approach to inspections had been introduced. Some small issues were identified and 13 variations of current licenses were found to be required.

6 licensing hearings had been referred to sub committees in the last 12 months and of these 3 had been cancelled due to the original representations being withdrawn. He explained that the reduction in hearings was due in part to the pre application service which had been introduced for new applications. This had seen new applicants dealing with any potential issues prior to an application being submitted and fewer representations being received. 40% of new applicants now used the pre application service.

He confirmed 5 gambling premises had been inspected with no issues.

In response to questions he confirmed that inspections were followed up if any further complaints had been received and that they were prioritised by the risk factor indicated on the risk assessment.

The Group Manager for Public Health and Regulatory Services explained that the costs of any additional work done by officers when hearings were subsequently cancelled could not be recouped as the licensing fees were set by Government. The Council had however recognised that amount of free advise was being given to new applicants which was the reason for the pre advice service being introduced. The service cost in the region of £30 per hour and was not for profit and covered the cost of officer time.