Agenda, decisions and minutes

It was unanimously AGREED that Cllr Richard Barrett be elected acting Vice-Chairman for the duration of the meeting.

None.

To authorise the Chairman to sign the minutes of the meeting held on 5 July 2012 as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 5 July 2012 were agreed as a correct record.

The Licensing Committee AGREED that:

(a)  A Licensing Review Panel be established to determine Licences authorised by the Licensing Committee following a referral by the Council’s Licensing Officer or an authorised officer;

(b)  The Panel comprises not more than 5 councillors from the Licensing Committee, who have undertaken the appropriate training;

(c)  The Chairman of the Licensing Committee be authorised to make appointments to the Panel when it is required to meet;

(d)  The Chief Executive be authorised to make the necessary amendments to Table One of Part Three of the Constitution; and

(e)  The Licensing Review Panel procedure, attached as Appendix A to the agenda be agreed

The Licensing Committee were requested to consider the establishment of a Licensing Review Panel to determine Private hire Driver Licences following a referral by the Council’s Licensing Officer or authorised officer. Having considered the contents of the report, the

Licensing Committee AGREED that:

(a)  A Licensing Review Panel be established to determine Licences authorised by the Licensing Committee following a referral by the Council’s Licensing Officer or an authorised officer;

(b)  The Panel comprises not more than 5 councillors from the Licensing Committee, who have undertaken the appropriate training;

(c)  The Chairman of the Licensing Committee be authorised to make appointments to the Panel when it is required to meet;

(d)  The Chief Executive be authorised to make the necessary amendments to Table One of Part Three of the Constitution; and

(e)  The Licensing Review Panel procedure, attached as Appendix A to the agenda be agreed

The Licensing Officer informed the Committee that the items contained on the agenda relating to the Gambling Act 2005 and Live Music Act 2012 should be dealt with under the terms of the Licensing (2003 Act) Committee. The Licensing Committee agreed to proceed under those arrangements.

The Licensing Committee RECOMMENDED to Council that the Gambling Act 2005 statement of Policy be approved.

The Licensing Officer presented his report and the accompanying draft policy and informed the Committee that due to Central Government requirements, a revised Gambling Policy must be published by 31 January 2013. Following a meeting of the Licensing Committee on 5 July 2012, a draft policy was approved for public consultation. No comments were received as a result of the consultation process and therefore no significant amendments had been made to the draft policy.

The Licensing (2003 Act) Committee RECOMMENDS to Council that the Gambling Act 2005 statement of Policy as attached at Appendix A of the report be approved.

The Licensing Officer presented his report relating to the introduction of new legislation entitled Live Music Act 2012 which became effective on 1 October 2012. He explained that following a consultation process undertaken in 2011 and to which the Committee responded to, some of the previous licensing requirements had been removed resulting in the possibility of an increase in requests to review licences.

The Licensing Committee NOTED that government guidance was awaited regarding how the new legislation should be interpreted and the information provided in the report.