Agenda and minutes

Any apologies for absence that have been received will be noted at this point.

Apologies for absence were received from Mr McAra.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Alcohol and Entertainment Licensing Committee meeting held on 20 May 2014

Resolved

That the minutes of the Alcohol and Entertainment Licensing Committee meeting held on 20 May 2014 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Chairman to announce any urgent items which due to special circumstances are to be dealt with under agenda item 7(b).

There were no urgent items.

Members and officers are reminded to make any declarations of disclosable pecuniary, personal and/or prejudicial interests they may have in respect of matters on the agenda for this meeting.

Mrs Westacott declared a personal interest as her husband was the owner of a licensed premises in the District.

Questions submitted by members of the public in writing by noon on the previous working day (for a period of up to 15 minutes).

No public questions had been submitted.

To introduce the Council’s draft Statement of Licensing Policy under the Licensing Act 2003 for the period of 2016-2021 and seek approval for public consultation.

The Committee considered the above report (copy attached to the official Minutes).

Mr Foord took the Committee through the proposed key changes to the draft Statement of Licensing Policy 2016-2021 following an initial review by officers.  The Committee was being asked to recommend the draft Policy, to Cabinet at its meeting on 7 July 2015 to approve it for public consultation for a 12 week period.  The final Policy would be published during January 2016.

He explained that the Licensing Act 2003 required all licensing authorities to publish a draft Policy every five years and was required to be published before the Licensing Authority could carry out any functions under the Licensing Act 2003.  The draft Policy set out the principles that the Licensing Authority would apply under the Act when carrying out its functions.  He commented that relatively only minor amendments were being proposed, which had mainly resulted from the recently amended Home Office guidance, the update of and the expansion of references to the South Downs National Park with regard to its purposes and duty, and other legislative changes.

With regard to conflict with the South Downs National Park, Mr Foord confirmed that a large number of licensed events took place within the Park due to the characteristics of its landscape.  He referred to the issues that farmers faced and the need for diversification that was required to sustain the long term use of their land.   He advised that discussions and training sessions had taken place with the South Downs National Planning Authority and similar local authorities to enable officers to understand the issues affecting the Park.  It was hoped that the Park Authority’s link officer would attend future Sub-Committees.  Mr Bennett added that when considering licence applications the Licensing Authority would only give weight to the purposes and duty of the Park Authority where those purposes aligned with or were related to the statutory licensing objectives.

He advised that the proposed procedure to delegate authority to the Head of Housing and Environment Services to consider representations provided that there were no significant changes to be made would streamline the process.   

The following suggested changes and other points of discussion emerged during the debate:

·        Page 14 – paragraph 3.8 –  Add ‘District’ to the end of bullet point 1.

·        Page 17 – paragraph 6.3 – In response to a question from a Member, it was confirmed that the use of citizenship cards had been moved away from as more value was put on passports, driving licences and the hologramed Proof of Age Standards Scheme card as other identification could be replicated. 

·        Page 17 – paragraph 6.4 – line 4 – replace ‘leave’ with ‘exit’.

·        Page 32 – add definition of working day.

·        Page 32 – bullet point 3 – replace ‘12’ with ‘15’ and delete wording in brackets.

·        It was noted that the wording of the draft Policy was in line with the Council’s Plain English Guide.

·        Page 15 – paragraph 4.2 – bullet point 6 – Reference  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.