Agenda for Licensing and Regulatory Committee on Monday 10 July 2023, 5.30 pm

Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Conference Chamber, West Suffolk House, Western Way, Bury St Edmunds IP33 3YU

Contact: Helen Hardinge: Democratic Services Officer  Email: democratic.services@westsuffolk.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

Procedural matters

 

8.

Election of Chair 2023/2024

Minutes:

This being the first meeting of the Licensing and Regulatory Committee since the Authority’s Annual Meeting in May 2023, the Business Partner (Regulatory and Information Governance) opened the meeting and asked for nominations for the Chair of the Committee for 2023/2024.

 

Councillor Pat Hanlon nominated Councillor Roger Dicker and Councillor Dicker accepted the nomination.

 

There being no other nominations, it was unanimously

 

RESOLVED:

 

That Councillor Roger Dicker be elected as Chair for 2023/2024.

 

Councillor Dicker thanked the Committee and then took the Chair for the remainder of the meeting. 

9.

Election of Vice Chair 2023/2024

Minutes:

The Chair then sought nominations for the position of Vice Chair.

 

Councillor Don Waldron nominated Councillor Pat Hanlon and Councillor Hanlon accepted the nomination.

 

There being no other nominations, it was unanimously

 

RESOLVED:

 

That Councillor Pat Hanlon be elected as Vice Chair for 2023/2024.

10.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Michael Anderson, Rowena Lindberg, Aaron Luccarini and Marilyn Sayer.

11.

Substitutes

Any member who is substituting for another member should so indicate, together with the name of the relevant absent member.

Minutes:

The following substitutions were declared:

 

Councillor Mick Bradshaw substituting for Councillor Aaron Luccarini;

Councillor Dawn Dicker substituting for Councillor Michael Anderson;

Councillor Janne Jarvis substituting for Councillor Marilyn Sayer; and

Councillor David Smith substituting for Councillor Rowena Lindberg.

12.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 166 KB

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 23 January 2023 (copy attached).

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 23 January 2023 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

13.

Declarations of interest

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any disclosable pecuniary interest, other registerable or non-registrable interest which they have in any item of business on the agenda, no later than when that item is reached and, when appropriate, to leave the meeting prior to discussion and voting on the item.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest made.

14.

Public participation

Members of the public who live or work in the District are welcome to speak and may ask one question or make a statement of not more than three minutes duration relating to items to be discussed in Part 1 of the agenda only.  If a question is asked and answered within three 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 Chair’s discretion.

Minutes:

There were no questions/statements from members of the public. 

15.

Presentation on Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) Consultation

Minutes:

The Food, Safety & Licensing Manager advised the Committee on the ongoing consultation being undertaken by West Suffolk Council in respect of Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) areas, which was open for responses until 21 July 2023.

 

Members were informed that Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) areas were a licensing tool which encouraged applicants who were applying for a new premises license or longer licensing hours in a designated area, to address how they would ensure it did not lead to increased issues of anti-social behaviour, crime and impact on public health. 

 

CIAs did not prevent a licence from being granted. CIAs are not an enforcement tool to tackle anti-social behaviour. Other measures such as police powers and existing licensing laws offered greater powers to address these issues.

 

The Food, Safety & Licensing Manager explained that regulations that had now come into force under Section 141 of the Policing and Crime Act, meaning that any further renewal of the CIAs in Bury St Edmunds and Newmarket, must be justified by evidence of its effectiveness.

 

As a result, the Council was undertaking the consultation to see if there was the evidence to support the renewal of the CIA for Bury St Edmunds and for Newmarket. Both CIAs must be reviewed by the end of 2023 and without strong evidence to renew, they would expire.

16.

Presentation and insight into the pro-active Licensed Premises Inspection Programme

Minutes:

This item provided an insight into some of the work of the Council’s Licensing Service.

 

The Food, Safety & Licensing Manager advised the Committee that Officers were seeking to reimplement regular meetings with the Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) and Pubwatch schemes that operated within West Suffolk.

 

In response to a question, Members were informed that the Licensing Authority did carry out unannounced inspections to licensed premises.

 

Discussion then moved on to Hackney Carriages and the Committee was advised that the Licensing Service undertook regular rank inspections.

 

Officers were also committed to engaging with the local police in order to establish joint intervention rank inspections.

 

The Chair then referenced the operation of the Committee highlighted the start time of the Committee’s meetings being 5.30pm; which he considered to be difficult for those Members who worked.

 

Accordingly, he proposed that the start time of the Committee be moved to 6.00pm and this was duly seconded by Councillor Rachel Hood.

 

Upon being put to the vote it was

 

RESOLVED:

 

That future meetings of the Licensing & Regulatory Committee commence at 6.00pm.

 

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