Agenda and minutes

(Head of Research and Democratic Services) To declare interests in any item on this agenda.

There were no declarations of interest pursuant to the Council’s Code of Member Conduct.

Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972, together with paragraphs (6) and (24) of the Council Procedure Rules contained in the Constitution require that the permission of the Chairman be obtained, after prior notice to the Chief Executive, before urgent business not specified in the agenda (including a supplementary agenda of which the statutory period of notice has been given) may be transacted.

In accordance with Operational Standing Order 6 (non-executive bodies), any item raised by a non-member shall require the support of a member of the Committee concerned and the Chairman of that Committee. Two weeks’ notice of non-urgent items is required.

It was noted that there was no other urgent business for consideration by the Committee.

Copies of the minutes of the Sub-Committee minutes will be available for the relevant Chairmen to sign off.

The Chairman requested a copy of the minutes from each Licensing Sub-Committee as and when they were produced. The Democratic Services Officer agreed to comply in future.

            RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the following meetings of the Licensing Sub-Committee be taken as read and signed by the relevant Chairman as a correct record:

·               13 October 2005;

·               3 November 2005;

·               24 November 2005;

·               22 December 2005;

·               9 February 2006;

·               2 May 2006;

·               8 June 2006;

·               6 July 2006;

·               3 August 2006;

·               7 September 2006; and

·               14 September 2006

Under the Licensing Act 2003, officers are required to report on the numbers of applications received and the determinations of those applications. The following table outlines the applications received between 20 April 2006 and 30 September 2006.

(a)            Premises Licence Applications/Variations

Number of new applications                                                                             23

Number of Renewals                                                                                            347

Change of Designated Premises Supervisor                                                       42

Number of applications granted under delegated authority                                  408

Number of applications considered by Sub-Committee                              4

Number of applications granted subject to conditions                                4

Number of applications refused                                                                        0

Number of appeals to Magistrates                                                                 0

Temporary Event Notices                                                                          115

Reviews                                                                                                          1

(b)            Personal Licence Applications

Number of applications received                                                                      84

Number of applications granted under delegated authority                                  56

Number of applications for variation considered by Sub-Committee            0

Number of applications refused                                                                        0

Number of appeals to Magistrates                                                                 0

The Environmental Health Manager reported that the number of Personal License Applications granted under delegated authority had been 84, not 56 as shown on the agenda. None of these applications had been refused and consequently there had been no appeals to the Magistrates Court.

In respect of Premises License Applications or Variations, there had been 23 new applications received, 347 renewals and 23 Change of Designated Premises Supervisor applications received. Of these, 408 were granted under delegated authority, whilst four were considered by Sub-Committee and granted subject to conditions. As none of the applications were refused, there were no appeals to the Magistrate’s Court. The Environmental Health Manager commented that the number of Change of Designated Premises Supervisors applications received had been higher than expected.

            RESOLVED:

That the report to the Licensing Committee on the current situation in respect of applications under the Licensing Act 2003 be noted.

To review the proceedings of the Licensing Sub-Committee meetings held so far and identify any problems of procedure, policy and housekeeping that have adversely affected the running of the meetings.

The Committee felt that the current policy of holding Sub-Committee meetings in the Council Chamber whenever possible, rather than a Committee Room, should be confirmed. In addition, it was also felt that coffee should be produced for outside the public entrance to the Chamber if a large public presence was expected for an application under the Licensing Act 2003.

The Environmental Health Manager reported that a fraudulent Hackney Carriage Drivers License application had been made, whereby the applicant had not listed their convictions. However these had been revealed after a CRB and DVLA check on the applicant.

The Statement of Principals prepared under the Gambling Act 2005 has been published for consultation. The results of the consultation so far will be presented, and the Committee are invited to comment upon the Statement of Principals.

The Environmental Health Manager reported that the Gambling Act 2005 was due to come into force in April 2007, and would regulate any Casinos, Bookmakers and gaming machines that paid out prize awards of £250 or greater. The Act required the Council to draft a Statement of Principles, which had been performed in conjunction with other District Councils in Essex. The draft Statement of Principles was due to be considered by the Cabinet on 13 November 2006 and the Council on 14 December 2006.

The Environmental Health Manager added that the consultation exercise had elicited three responses. The non-Conformist Churches had requested to be added to the list of consultees, which the Committee agreed. Loughton Town Council had suggested the removal of the sentence “This authority will not apply a rigid role to its decision making” in paragraph (3) of Section (5). However, the Committee felt that the flexibility to consider each case on its own merit should be retained and rejected this request.

The British Bookmakers Association had made the following suggestions to the Committee: -

·         That door supervisors were not required at betting offices unless there was clear evidence that public order could not be maintained from the counter;

·         That there was no evidence to regulate betting machines within betting offices; and

·         That as some bookmakers had numerous betting offices within the District, there should be a single named point of contact for each operator.

The Committee felt that as each case should be considered on its merits, it would reserve the right for the Sub-Committee to determine whether door supervisors were required at a particular betting office, or whether betting machines should be regulated. The Committee agreed that operators with multiple offices within the District could provide the Council with a single, named point of contact, provided that the individual concerned had responsibility for the premises in question.

The Environmental Health Manager reminded the Committee that the Gambling Act 2005 did not extend to either the National Lottery or Premium Bonds.

RESOLVED:

That the draft Statement of Principals be endorsed, subject to the following amendment:

(a)            The authority recognises that certain bookmakers have a number of premises within its area. In order to ensure that any compliance issues are recognised and resolved at the earliest stage, operators are requested to give the authority a single, named point of contact, who should be a senior individual with responsibility for the premises in question and whom the authority will contact first should any compliance queries or issues arise.

Roger Butterfield has been booked to provide training under the Gambling Act 2005. This has been scheduled for 29 November 2006 and will last all day; lunch will be provided.

The Committee noted the Gambling Act 2005 training that had been scheduled for 29 November 2006. In order to broaden the knowledge of licensing procedures, it was suggested that the Sub-Committees should contain a mixture of experienced and less experienced members, and that informal discussions should be held after each meeting. The Democratic Services Officer reminded the Committee that one problem facing members was the infrequency of licensing meetings, as on average they would only undertake a meeting every four months.

The next meeting of the Licensing Committee has been scheduled for Thursday 19 April 2007 at 2.00pm in the Council Chamber.

The next meeting of the Licensing Committee had been scheduled for Thursday 19 April 2007 at 2.00p.m. in the Council Chamber.