Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairman for the municipal year

Cllr J Cairney was duly elected Chairman of the Licensing Committee for the municipal year 2022-2023

To elect a Vice Chairman for the municipal year

Cllr Mrs E J Slade was duly elected Vice Chairman of the Licensing Committee for the municipal year 2022-2023

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

Apologies were received from Cllrs Mrs F J Colthorpe, R J Chesterton, D J Knowles and L D Taylor.

Cllr A Wilce attended via ZOOM.

To record any interests on agenda matters.

Members were reminded of the need to make declarations where appropriate

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

There were no members of the public present

To consider whether to approve the minutes as a correct record of the meeting held on 3^rd December 2021

The minutes of the meeting held on 3^rd December 2021 were agreed as a true record and duly SIGNED by the Chairman.

The Operations Manager for Public Health & Housing Options gave an overview of the service and noted that:

·         Due to unforeseen circumstances that staffing levels and lack of expertise, inspections had been limited

·         There had been no direct enforcement of Licensing Premises due to the staffing issues

·         2 subcommittee licensing hearings had been held, both of which were granted

·         There had been regular liaison with the Police and Environmental Health on Temporary Event Notices

·         With a new team and specialist support now in place, a program of training and increased enforcement and pro-active inspections is now planned

·         Premises applications had increased from 69 in 2020-2021 to 276 to date in 2022-2023 and were back to pre covid levels

·         A qualified Animal Welfare Inspector had been employed to complete premises inspections and provide in depth reports

·         There were 3 new applications for dog breeders pending and 2 renewals

Members were saddened to hear the loss of qualified staff and questioned how the team’s enforcement obligations could be met.

The Operations Manager for Public Health & Housing Options responded by stating that looking after the health and safety of the public was a priority. Where public health had been assessed as at risk enforcement was undertaken and/or a hearing arranged. They were building competency across the team. The team had a clear development plan and agency staff had been employed to provide training to new staff members. The Operations Manager indicated that she monitored the team’s key performance indicators on a monthly basis

Members requested that a report on results against the teams current key performance indicators be presented to the next meeting of the Committee.