Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors David Bimson and Brian Harvey.

Councillor Rona Burt attended the meeting as substitute for Councillor David Bimson, and Councillor David Bowman attended as substitute for Councillor Brian Harvey.

Members of the public who live or work in the District are invited to put one question/statement of not more than 3 minutes duration relating to items to be discussed in Part 1 of the agenda only.  If a question is asked and answered in 3 minutes, the person who asked the question may ask a supplementary question that arises from the reply.

A person who wishes to speak must register at least 15 minutes before the time the meeting is scheduled to start.

There is an overall limit of 15 minutes for public speaking, which may be extended at the Chairman’s discretion.

There were no questions/statement s from members of the public.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 29 June 2015 (copy attached).

The minutes of the meeting held on 29 June 2015 were unanimously accepted by the Committee as an accurate record and were signed by the Chairman.

Report No: LIC/FH/15/004

The Business Regulation and Licensing Manager asked the Committee to consider revising the dress code condition concerning drivers of Hackney Carriage and Private Hire vehicles in order to portray a professional image which would promote both the business and the Forest Heath District. 

He added that the same report was also to be presented to St Edmundsbury Borough Council’s Licensing and Regulatory Committee on 29 September 2015.

The Officer explained that having sought the advice of the West Suffolk Corporate Communications team he proposed that the condition set out in Paragraph 1.4 of Report No LIC/FH/15/004 be amended to include the headings “Items of Clothing Deemed Appropriate” (as opposed to “allowed”) and “Items of Clothing Deemed Inappropriate” (as opposed to “not allowed”).

With the vote being unanimous, it was

          RESOLVED:

That the proposed dress code condition, as set out in Paragraph 1.4 of the report and with the amendment as identified above, be approved for consultation with current licence holders.

Report No: LIC/FH/15/005

The Business Regulation and Licensing Manager presented this report which asked Members to approve mandatory Child Sexual Exploitation training for all drivers.

The same report was also to be presented to St Edmundsbury Borough Council’s Licensing and Regulatory Committee on 29 September 2015 to enable training to take place for all West Suffolk Hackney Carriage and Private Hire drivers.

The Committee was advised that the first training sessions would be delivered in the New Year, provided free of charge by the Suffolk Local Safeguarding Children’s Board.

The Chairman and the Committee as a whole supported the proposal and with the vote being unanimous, it was

          RESOLVED:

          That:-

1.   The contents of the report be noted and mandatory Child Sexual Exploitation training for all drivers (subject to its ongoing viability) be approved; and

2.   The Business Regulation and Licensing Manager be given Delegated Authority to specify the start date, following consultation with the Committee Chairman and Vice-Chairman.

Report No: LIC/FH/15/006

Further to the initial report presented to the Licensing Committee on 29 June 2015, the Business Regulation and Licensing Manger now asked Members to consider the results of the public consultation that was undertaken; and subsequently sought approval for the adoption of a revised joint West Suffolk Gambling Act 2005: Statement of Policy 2016 – 2019.

The Officer confirmed that the same report was also to be presented to St Edmundsbury Borough Council’s Licensing and Regulatory Committee on 29 September 2015, following which the Policy would seek final approval at both Authorities’ meetings of full Council on 9 and 15 December 2015.

With the vote being unanimous, it was

          RESOLVED:

That the revised West Suffolk Gambling Act 2005: Statement of Policy 2016 – 2019 be approved for adoption by Council on 9 December 2015.

(Note:         Subsequent to this meeting of the Committee, minor amendments

 have been made under delegated authority to the text of the Joint    Statement of Policy by the Head of Planning and Growth in consultation with Councillor James Waters as Portfolio Holder. The amendments  were required to take account of a new edition of the Gambling Commission Guidance  for Licensing Authorities. Accordingly the 3^rd paragraph of the Preface now reads: ‘All references made within this document to the Gambling Commission Guidance for Licensing Authorities , and any extracts quoted thereof, refer to the Fifth Edition of the Guidance document published in September 2015’.  Further very minor textual amendments have been made to the document under delegated authority but these do not materially affect the meaning of the document.)