Agenda and minutes

(Chief Executive) To declare interests in any item on the agenda.

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

The Panel noted that Councillor Pond had expressed an interest to become a member of the Panel. The Panel agreed that she be added as a member.

(Chairman/Lead Officer) To consider the attached report.

The Panel considered the report  on the Scope and the Terms of Reference for this newly constituted Task and Finish Panel.

The Panel considered what they should be looking at in their meetings and they agreed that they should consider:

• the possibility of moving at least some of the more contentious applications, such as the increase in hours for the selling of alcohol, extended hours for nightclubs or sex shops, to evening meetings;
• the possibility of creating a new Licensing Sub-Committee structure to enable local councillors to have more input;
• how to either extend the people to be consulted on applications or how to better inform consultees that an application has been submitted;
• where does the Town and Parish Councils come into the consultation process;
• to review the number of meetings and type of licences issued;
• form an opinion on what type of applications are more appropriately heard during the daytime meetings and need not be considered for moving to evening meetings;
• there was need to establish best practice and how it applied to EFDC;
• the type of training given to Committee members and non-committee members on Licensing matters;
• possible venues of evening meetings and costs involved;
• potential costs to the applicant;
• how do other Councils conduct their Licensing meetings (daytime or evening);
• arrange for a few panel members to visit other council’s evening meeting and report back;
• ask licensing officers from other authorities to attend a Panel meeting for a Q&A session;
• to review the likely extra work to be put on licensing officers;
• what is the legal position regarding the role of Councillors, Ward Councillors, County Councillors and Parish and Town Councillors.

The Panel considered what information they would need researched and brought to their meetings. They agreed that they wanted:

• A statistical review of the Licensing Sub-Committee meetings over the last two years to ascertain how many applications there have been, the length of the meetings, and the types of licence applications considered. This information to be brought to their next meeting;
• How many applicants had made use of legal or other representatives at their hearings;
• Indicative costs for the hire of outside premises, and officer costs for the meeting. This could be based on the costs for Area Plans South meetings, held in Loughton;
• Information on how other Councils conduct their Licensing Committee meetings.

Once enough information had been gathered a consultation exercise should be conducted, canvassing the opinions of applicants, solicitors, residents, officers and local councillors. Councillor Philip stated that before the Panel went out to consult they should work out what they wanted to do first.

Councillor Whitbread said that the budgetary considerations should be put to one side for now and the Panel should concentrate on getting the policy right. A supplementary could always be added to the budget later. This was a project to enhance the way the Council publically handles itself.

Councillor Smith noted that the law around licensing was far more restrictive than that around planning. Councillor Angold-Stephens  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

To agree a date for the next meeting of this Panel.

Next Meeting:

1.      The Democratic Services Officer to find a suitable date in the first two weeks of December to hold a meeting.

2.      To receive a statistical report on the last two years of Licensing Sub-Committee meetings.

3.      To arrange for a licensing officer and appropriate Councillor from another authority who have evening meetings to come and talk to the Panel on their experiences.