Agenda item

The Council, as the Licensing Authority, must adopt a Statement of Licensing Policy that sets out how it carries out its duties under the Licensing Act 2003 (the ‘Act’). That Policy must be reviewed every five years and this report considers the review of this document.

The Committee had before it a report * from the Head of Housing and Health and which was presented by the Specialist Lead, Licensing on the Statement of Licensing Policy and highlighted the following:-

·       The Council was required to adopt a Statement of Licensing Policy on how it would administer its functions under the Licensing Act 2003.

·       The changes to the Statement were not significant and included the following:

-        The removal of the Appendix C (pool of Conditions) and Appendix D (Code of good practice for licensed premises) attached to the Policy itself.  These would now be standalone documents available online; they would be easier to update.

-        Additional information provided on non-licensable activities for local residents and how they could address concerns about these.

-        More information on bigger events and the Safety Advisory Group.

-        Additional information regarding drink spiking prevention and that licence holders and applicants should consider the safeguards they had in place to prevent it.

-        Safeguarding training for relevant premises.

·       A consultation took place for 6 weeks from 12 July 2024 to 23 August 2024 during which 5 responses were received, but only 3 responses were directed at the Statement of Licensing Policy:-

(i)              Devon County Council (DCC)

-        That they should be referred to as the Director of Public Health – this amendment had been made.

(ii)             Member of the Public

-        Many points raised within the Policy were only relevant to DCC.  The Specialist Officer had spoken to the person who had submitted the response but they did not give any examples of this.  DCC were consulted on the Policy and they did not make any such comments themselves.  It was also explained that DCC were a Responsible Authority under the Licensing Act 2003 so there would be an expected cross over.  The Licensing Act 2003 had been in place for almost 20 years and Responsible Authorities were familiar with their role.

-        Members should be more involved with decision making and less should be delegated to officers as this was not best practice.   The Specialist Officer explained that this related to the list of delegations contained within the Statement of Licensing Policy and was based on the Section 185 Guidance from the Home Office which was best practice.  Therefore no amendment was proposed to the Statement of Licensing Policy in light of that comment.   However in terms of Members being more involved this would be reviewed and the Council website would be updated to ensure members of the public had access and information to contact the relevant elected Member to discuss any concerns they had regarding a premises licence.

(iii)           Licence Holder – it was a good policy which was informative, useful and practicable.

Discussion took place regarding:-

·       Whether drink spiking training would be mandatory and how would training be accessed.  It was explained that it would not be mandatory however resources would be made available online and to point people in the right direction where training could be applied for and received.   Furthermore, the ‘Stamp out Spiking’ organisation would be providing training to the Licensing Team in November 2024 on how they could better support licence holders and sign post them to guidance and information.  Any relevant information would be brought to the next meeting of the Licensing Committee in December 2024.

The Committee RESOLVED that the Statement of Licensing Policy as attached in Annexe B be recommended to Full Council for approval.

(Proposed by the Chair)

Note: * Report previously circulated.