Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Whyborn.

There were none.

There were none.

To approve the minutes of the last meeting held on 6^th March 2019.

A conversation was had about the exempt minutes from the previous meeting. Subject to a vote, the committee unanimously resolved to remove the exemption and put the minutes in to the public domain.

The minutes of the last meeting on 6^th March were approved and signed as a correct record.

To approve the minutes of the Miscellaneous Licensing Sub Committee held on 8^th May 2019.

One Member requested that the full name of officers be listed in the minutes.

Subject to the above amendments the minutes of the Miscellaneous Licensing Sub Committee held on 8^th May 2019 were approved and signed as a correct record. 

Mr Edward Danter

The Licensing Team Leader introduced the report, he explained that an application had been received from Mr Edward Danter for a street trading consent to sell hot food and hot and cold drinks from a hot food unit on the High Street. He highlighted that the application submitted in relation to Mr Danter’s proposed 2019 trading had been altered from previous years in that the location was slightly different and the trading unit had been scaled down in size.

He highlighted that a number of objections had been received in relation to the application and advised the committee that they should be mindful of these when determining the application. These were outlined at Appendix 3 of the officer report. 

He reminded the committee that each application should be determined on its individual merits and with a view of promoting the principles and objectives contained in the council’s adopted policy. If Members were minded to deviate from the policy they should have clear reasons for doing so.

He noted that the next phase of the High Street East Masterplan work was due to commence in September and that this could affect the suitability of the location Mr Danter had applied to trade from.  He advised that there was currently no definitive timescale for the works.

Following questions from Members, the Licensing Team Leader confirmed that:

·           If an alternative location is identified for the stall, it would be subject to the usual consultation;

·           He confirmed that 3 potential alternative sites had been identified, one was on the High Street near to Rodney Road, the other was outside Cavendish house as the Christmas market was moving this year and the final location, which had been suggested by Mr Danter, was on the High Street situated slightly up from John Lewis.

·           Following a concern from Members that they had not had the opportunity to visit the alternative locations, the Licensing Team Leader confirmed that the committee had to determine the application before them. If they were minded to permit the application and the site became unavailable due to the works on the High Street then further consultation on an alternative site would need to be completed and the application may have to come back before the committee.

·           Following a question from a Member, he confirmed that the alternative location for the Christmas market was not yet in the public domain as it was subject to procurement.

·           Following a comment from Mr Danter that the proposed location for the stall had already been repaved last year, the Licensing Team Leader confirmed that whilst the stall wouldn’t be situated directly within the area being re-paved there would be a lot of traffic, noise and disruption to this area and so it had been deemed unsuitable for a food unit. He highlighted that this was dependent on the programme of works and may not affect Mr Danter at all.

Mr Danter explained that:

• He had experienced a number refurbishments to business units and the High Street  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Report of Licensing Team Leader

The Licensing Team Leader introduced the report, he explained that the Licensing Committee had requested that a review of the street scene policy be brought to the next full licensing committee meeting and a briefing note had been prepared to assist Members in their discussions. This outlined the current policy, recommendations for any future policy direction and examples from other councils.

He advised the committee that they could make recommendations to Cabinet  on the proposed revised policy options with regards to the council’s policy on the licensing of objects on the highway.

Members agreed that there was inevitably an issue with enforcement and the fact it took several months for a case to be listed with the Magistrate’s Court was a poor use of officer’s time.

The Licencing Team Leader advised that they had met with the planning enforcement team who can deal with the advertisement side of A boards and through the Town and Country Planning Act the council had the ability to remove unauthorised A boards. Planners could, therefore, delegate such powers to licensing to deal with themselves and this would save them having to go through the Magistrate’s Court. He did, however, acknowledge that there were practical issues that needed to be considered such as the storage and procedure for destroying of such boards.

Some Members noted that other councils had adopted an automatic entitlement approach where subject to compliance with restrictions advertising boards can be used without the need for an application and thought this would be an appropriate approach to adopt.

Members felt it imperative that councils had the power to act more quickly to resolve issues and not have to prepare case files for court. The Licensing Team Leader explained that if they had delegated powers from the planning officers then the legislation states that they must give 14 days notice and if applicants haven’t complied within this time frame they can remove the A board themselves.

A Member also noted that there were issues with businesses leaving their tables and chairs out overnight which was not permitted by the licence.

Members had concerns as to whether the council had adequate enforcement resources and discussed whether the matter should be referred to O&S to look at. The Licensing Team Leader  acknowledged that enforcement was an issue, however, if they had delegated powers to deal with A boards then the cases could be resolved within 2 weeks which would help alleviate some of the resourcing issues.

Following a discussion, the committee agreed that the Chair and Vice Chair should in the first instance meet with the Built Environment Enforcement Manager to identify the extent of the problem.

The Chair informed the committee that Tewkesbury Borough Council were currently reviewing their Hackney Carriage & Private Hire Taxi licencing policy with a deadline of the 26^th August. It was suggested that the item be brought back to the next miscellaneous licensing committee meeting and any concerns could be fed back to Tewkesbury following that.

The Licensing Team Leader informed the committee that they were having ongoing discussions with the police and County Council following concerns they had about the lack of information being disclosed on DBS checks. He advised that as per the national guidance’s “relevancy criteria” police would not routinely log the following information:

·           Violence considered less serious than GBH not involving a child or vulnerable adult unless there is a pattern of behaviour

·           Domestic incidents

·           Drug possession/use

·           Drug dealing not involving children

·           Drunkenness

He explained that there was a national consultation on the DBS criteria that they would be feeding in to and they were also dealing with it locally through the Gloucestershire Licensing Officers Group.

He confirmed that there was a national database of taxi drivers where refusals and revocations were logged, however, safeguarding information was not disclosed on there.

4^th September 2019.

4^th September 2019.

To approve the exempt minutes of the sub committee meeting on 6^th March 2019.

The committee had resolved to release the exempt minutes from the previous meeting in to the public domain.