Agenda and minutes

Venue: Virtual Meeting. View directions

Contact: Democratic and Electoral Services 

Link: Click to view live meeting from 6:30pm on 8 December 2020

Items
No. Item

10.

Declarations of Interest

To receive from Members, declarations of the existence of any disclosable pecuniary, or non-pecuniary, interests and the nature of those interests in relation to any agenda item. Please see Agenda Notes.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

11.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 147 KB

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 8th September 2020.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on the 8th September 2020 were confirmed by the Chair as a correct record.

 

12.

Minutes of Licensing Sub-Committees

Members are requested to indicate whether they wish to discuss the exempt minutes listed at agenda item 11.  If so, it will be necessary to resolve to exclude the Press and Public and circulate the exempt minutes prior to any discussion of the exempt minutes listed at agenda item 11.

 

Should no Member wish to discuss the minutes, the Committee are invited to resolve to receive the exempt minutes without discussion.

Minutes:

No member indicated that they wished to discuss the content of the exempt minutes. Therefore, it was not necessary to exclude the press and public.

 

RESOLVED that the exempt minutes of the Licensing and Enforcement Sub-Committee held on the 9th November 2020 were received.

 

13.

Public Question Time (15 Minutes)

To receive any questions from members of the public provided that a question does not relate to:

 

·       Matters which are the subject of current or pending legal proceedings, or

·       Matters relating to employees or former employees of the Council or comments in respect of individual Council Officers.

Minutes:

There were no questions from members of the public.

14.

Petitions and Deputations (15 Minutes, Maximum 3 Minutes Per Person)

To receive any petitions and deputations provided that no such petition or deputation is in relation to:

 

·       Matters relating to individual Council Officers, or

·       Matters relating to current or pending legal proceedings.

Minutes:

There were no petitions or deputations.

15.

Revised Licensing Policy Statement pdf icon PDF 275 KB

To consider the report of the Head of Place, which presents to members the results of the consultation on the Draft Revised Licensing Policy Statement and

recommends that members agree to a final draft version of the Licensing Policy Statement for adoption by Council at the meeting to be held on the 29th January 2021.

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Licensing Lead presented the report of the Head of Place. The report presented to members the result of the consultation on the Draft Revised Licensing Policy Statement. The report also asked members to agree to a final draft version of the Licensing Policy Statement for adoption by Council at the meeting to be held on the 29th January 2021.

 

Councillor Tracey pointed to paragraph 3.13 of the report, which mentioned that Richard Graham MP had made comments concerning “Off-licenses selling alcohol to people that appear to be under the influence of alcohol”. She questioned whether the term “Off-licenses” should be changed because other premises also sell alcohol.

                                                                                       

The Chair replied that it was a duty of any premise that had a licence to sell alcohol to ensure that they do not sell it to somebody visibly intoxicated. 

 

The Licensing Lead stated that the issue that Richard Graham MP had raised was in relation to a few areas where there had been issues with some off-licenses. He added that whether it was an off-licence or a pub, the Licensing team had a legal power to ‘review’ any premise that was in breach of licensing rules.

 

Councillor D. Brown stated that he was surprised that only two consultees replied during the consultation period.

 

The Licensing Lead replied that the policy statement was sent to a comprehensive list of people/premises. He added that consultation on the previous Licensing Policy Statement in 2015 had only generated three responses.

 

 

RESOLVED that the Licensing and Enforcement Committee APPROVE the Licensing Policy Statement and RECOMMEND that:

 

(1)  The revised Licensing Policy Statement – Licensing Act 2003, is approved and adopted by the Council. 

 

 

 

16.

Cumulative Impact Assessment pdf icon PDF 335 KB

To receive the report of the Head of Place which asks members to direct Officers to undertake an eight week consultation with relevant stakeholders, businesses and members of the public on the Cumulative Impact Assessment.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair read a statement explaining to members what the Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) was and why it was required to support any Cumulative Impact Policy (CIP).

 

The Licensing Lead noted that the Chair had thoroughly explained what the Cumulative Impact Assessment was.

 

Councillor Haigh said that she believed that it was important to have a Cumulative Impact Policy, and a consultation period. She highlighted the anti-social issues that can arrive in areas that have too many fast food, gambling, or alcohol selling premises in a concentrated area.

 

The Chair stated that he agreed with Councillor Haigh. The Chair added that he would like to see the crime and alcohol-related figures in other parts of the City, not just the statistics for Eastgate Street that is currently provided by Gloucestershire Constabulary during the consultation period.  He stated that he also wanted to have a breakdown of the type of crime being committed in these areas.

 

 

RESOLVED that Officers undertake an eight-week consultation with relevant stakeholders, businesses and members of the public on the Cumulative Impact Assessment.

 

17.

Quarterly Update pdf icon PDF 173 KB

To receive the report of the Head of Place, which outlines to Members, details

of key Licensing Activities carried out from 1 September 2020 to 30 November

2020, including applications and service requests received, details of any

enforcement work, progress updates of our work plan and any changes in

Licensing Law.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members indicated that they had read the Quarterly Update. Subsequently, the Chair asked whether members had any questions about the report that they wished to direct to the Licensing Lead.

 

Councillor D. Brown referred to paragraph 4.4 of the report which stated that “Officers will restart pro-active inspections once the pandemic is over”. He asked whether this meant that there had been no inspections during the COVID-19 pandemic and what effect that had on the Enforcement aspect of the Licensing team’s work.

 

The Licensing Lead replied that the statement Councillor D. Brown was referring to in the report was specific to inspections of gambling premises. He stated that it was difficult for him to provide a specific date when those would begin again.

 

The Licensing Lead stated that he had spoken tonumerous pub owners, talked to the chair of the LVA and that his team had visited various premises, particularly on the 4th July 2020, when pubs were allowed to reopen for the first time since the first lockdown period. He stated that his team had recently began increasing the number of inspections that they undertake.

 

Councillor Patel asked what support and safety measures were in place for Private Hire drivers. He added that he had heard that Cheltenham Borough Council were potentially looking at paying for screens to be installed in taxi’s in Cheltenham and questioned whether Gloucester City Council were thinking of doing the same.

 

Councillor Patel also asked whether the Licensing team were only focused on ensuring that social distancing and safety measures were adhered to in off-licenses or whether they had also focused their attention on other premises such as pubs.

 

The Licensing Lead replied that he had seen an article that suggested that there may be grants provided by Cheltenham Borough Council for screens but that it would require further investigation and that he would speak to his Licensing counterparts at Cheltenham Borough Council for further detail.

 

The Licensing Lead stated that the Licensing team had kept their drivers up to date on any government legislation. He noted that the Licensing team had been putting information on their website and had communicated directly with drivers via text which had led to positive feedback from drivers in the area.  He added that the Licensing team had just issued stickers for all licensed vehicles so drivers can put them in their windows to remind passengers to wear a face covering.

 

The Licensing Lead said that since the end of the second lockdown approximately 50% of licensed premises had reopened in Gloucester. He stated that his team had spoken to the LVA and informed them of their view of what constituted a ‘substantial meal’. He added that text messages were sent to all Licensed premises to make sure they were aware of the rules to follow under the new regulations.

 

Councillor Patel noted that he had also received positive feedback from licensed drivers regarding how well any change in regulation had been relayed to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

18.

Date of next meeting

Tuesday, 16th March 2021 at 6.30pm.

Minutes:

Tuesday, 16th March 2021 at 6:30pm.