Issue - meetings

The Licensing Committee RECOMMENDED that the revised Licensing Policy be adopted.

Council ADOPTED the revised Licensing Policy, subject to the correction of a formatting error in the document.

Consideration was given to the revised Licensing (2003 Act) Policy, which the Licensing Committee considered at its meeting on 17 October 2013 and recommended for adoption.

Councillor Alex Riley, Chairman of the Licensing Committee, proposed that the revised Licensing Policy be adopted.  The proposal was seconded by Councillor Mick Martin, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services.

A formatting error in the document was highlighted and the proposer and seconder agreed to amend their original motion to ensure that the document could be amended prior to its adoption.

With a unanimous vote Council ADOPTED the revised Licensing Policy, subject to the correction of a formatting error in the document.

Changes to the attached Policy are shown as tracked changes.

The Licensing Committee recommends to full Council, that subject to the amendments made at the meeting, the revised Licensing Policy attached as Appendix A to the covering report, be adopted.

As a result of the consultation exercise undertaken following consideration of the review of the Licensing 2003 Act Policy at the Licensing Committee meeting held on 12 June 2013, Members were requested to consider the one formal representation received from Cambridgeshire Constabulary. The comments received in the representation were highlighted as track changes in the policy document appended to the covering report.

Prior to consideration of the document, the Committee was informed by the Head of Service for Environmental Health and Licensing that amendments could only be made to pages 7 to 24 in the agenda papers.

Following consideration page by page of the contents of the draft Policy, the Licensing Committee made several typographical and minor amendments to the Policy.

The Licensing Committee RECOMMENDS to full Council, that subject to the amendments made at the meeting, the revised Licensing Policy attached as Appendix A to the covering report, be adopted.

(a)          The Licensing Committee RECOMMENDED to the Environmental Services Portfolio Holder that the draft Licensing (2003 Act) Policy as attached at Appendix A to the covering report be approved for consultation purposes, subject to the typographical and grammatical amendments proposed at the meeting.

(b)          The Environmental Services Portfolio Holder, being present at the meeting APPROVED the draft Licensing (2003 Act) Policy as attached at Appendix A to the covering report for consultation purposes, subject to the typographical and grammatical amendments proposed at the meeting.

The Licensing Committee was requested to review the Licensing (2003 Act) Policy and recommend to the Environmental Services Portfolio Holder the commencement of a consultation process on the draft proposals.

Under s.5 of the Licensing 2003 Act, a review of the Policy every five years was required. The last review was undertaken during 2010 and became effective in January 2011. However, changes introduced in respect of the Act relating to the Live Music Act 2012 and the Police & Social Responsibility Act 2011, together with guidelines issued by the Department of Culture, Media and Sports necessitated the requirement to undertake a review of the Policy.

A draft policy incorporating the amendments was presented to the Committee and Portfolio Holder for approval to commence the requisite consultation process.

Once the consultation process had been completed, the Policy incorporating any amendments received would be considered again by the Licensing Committee and Portfolio Holder in October for recommendation to Council on 28 November 2013.

The Head of Service for Environmental Health and Licensing informed Members that amendments could only be made to pages 7 to 21 in the agenda papers as the annexes to the Policy had already been adopted. It was noted however, that Annex B, the Environmental Health Enforcement Policy was undergoing a review and it was anticipated that that revised Policy would be incorporated into the new Licensing 2003 Act Policy.

Having considered the contents of the draft Policy, the Licensing Committee made the following amendments:

·         P26 – 2.9 (Other Conditions) Add signage relating to the presence of CCTV cameras

·         P29 – 5.29(ii) All persons should be aware of evacuation arrangements and (vii) add additional wording to read `All exits, including emergency exits are kept unobstructed …

·         P30 Fire action – Include evacuation procedure

·         P31(m) Special Effects – Specially designed cabinets were required to store special effects and a designated person with an explosives licence was required to handle explosives

·         P47, para 29 – add the words `excluding the performer’

The Licensing Committee RECOMMENDED to the Environmental Services Portfolio Holder that the draft Licensing (2003 Act) Policy as attached at Appendix A to the covering report be approved for consultation purposes, subject to the grammatical amendments proposed at the meeting.

The Environmental Services Portfolio Holder, being present at the meeting APPROVED the draft Licensing (2003 Act) Policy as attached at Appendix A to the covering report for consultation purposes, subject to the grammatical amendments proposed at the meeting.

At the conclusion of the meeting the Head of Service, Environmental Health and Licensing thanked Tara King, Assistant Licensing Officer for the extra work she had undertaken in order to prepare the draft Policy for consultation.