Agenda item

Report of Licensing Team Leader

The Licensing Officer, Phil Cooper, introduced the report of the Licensing Team Leader on the review of the Licensing Committee Structure and Operation.  He reminded members that in July 2016 Council had decided that a review of the licensing committee’s structure and meeting arrangements should be undertaken by officers in consultation with the committee.  The rationale for the review was explained in paragraph 3 of the report.

Following consultation, officers had now prepared a draft proposed structure, under which the full committee would be scheduled to meet 4 times a year with the case-by-case business being discharged by 2 sub-committees. The proposed structure was illustrated at Appendix 1 to the report.

The Officer advised that if the committee approved the structure, the new arrangements would be implemented from September 2017. 

Members debated the proposals set out in the report and the following points were made or clarified:-

·         There would be five members on each of the sub-committees and members would swap over on an annual basis.  Members could sub from one committee to the other to cover absences.

·         Currently a full committee debated minor miscellaneous matters and only 3 members discussed more in-depth matters.  The new structure would address this and allow improved proportionality on each sub-committee of 5 members.

·         The new proposal would allow opportunities for member development, for different members to be part of the ad-hoc alcohol and gambling sub-committee, whilst still cross party working and still being quorate with 3 members should 2 members not be able to attend.

·         With the full committee meeting four times a year, more time could be allocated to reviewing the policies giving members more input into the policies that govern their licensing decisions.  The full committee would also provide the opportunity for extra training and for being pro-active on certain issues.

·         The annual allowance for the Chair could be split between the Chair and vice chair, as the vice chair would be chairing one of the sub-committees and taking on more responsibility.  This matter would be considered by the Independent Remuneration Panel when they next meet and reported back to council.   If the Chair was unavailable for a certain meeting then another Chair would be elected from within the membership of that sub-committee.  It was remarked that there was no training for Chairs, but suggested that the Local Government Association might do some.

·         It was confirmed that 12 meetings of licensing would be diarised, on the first Wednesday of each month.  Of these 12, four would be full committee meetings.  Any of the 12 slots could be used for scheduling the Miscellaneous Licensing Sub-committee according to business.  The Alcohol and Gambling Sub-committee would be scheduled on an ad hoc basis, as at present, as these committees had to be held within a 20-working-day period of the close of consultation.  If this were to coincide with a scheduled Wednesday evening slot, then this would be used. 

The Chair and Vice Chair both advocated their support of this new committee structure, with the Vice Chair outlining his experiences of licensing in Bristol, which had a similar structure to the proposal.  The vice chair would also like to see an annual report provided, so that members could see, for example, how many of the decisions made by the committee went to appeal. 

Some members did not support the rationale that this restructure would address gaps in members’ skills and knowledge as members would not be gaining experience of one element of licensing with only 5 members per committee.  They also questioned any savings being made in either member or officer time. Others suggested that the new structure be supported and trialled for two years to see how it went and reviewed again at that point if necessary. 

Upon a vote, it was 6 for, 2 against.

RESOLVED THAT:-

1.         The proposed revised structure of the licensing committee as set out in Appendix 1 of the report be approved;

2.         Authority be delegated to the Democratic Services Manager to implement the resolution including delegated powers to:

a. Make the necessary arrangements to implement any constitutional changes;

b. Make the necessary arrangements, in consultation with the chair and vice-chair of the Committee, to implement the new Licensing Committee structure; and

c. Ensure the special responsibility allowances for the Licensing Committee are reviewed by the Independent Remuneration Panel and reported back to Council at the appropriate time.