Agenda and minutes
PDF 278 KBVenue: Meeting Room 2 - Level 3, Gun Wharf, Dock Road, Chatham ME4 4TR
Contact: Stephen Platt, Democratic Services Officer
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To approve the record of the meeting held on 18 November 2014. Minutes: The record of the meeting of the Committee held on 18 November 2014 was agreed as correct and signed by the Chairman. |
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Apologies for absence Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Carr and Kearney. |
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Urgent matters by reason of special circumstances The Chairman will announce any late items which do not appear on the main agenda but which he/she has agreed should be considered by reason of special circumstances to be specified in the report. Minutes: There were none. |
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Declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests and other interests A member need only disclose at any meeting the existence of a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI) in a matter to be considered at that meeting if that DPI has not been entered on the disclosable pecuniary interests register maintained by the Monitoring Officer.
A member disclosing a DPI at a meeting must thereafter notify the Monitoring Officer in writing of that interest within 28 days from the date of disclosure at the meeting.
A member may not participate in a discussion of or vote on any matter in which he or she has a DPI (both those already registered and those disclosed at the meeting) and must withdraw from the room during such discussion/vote.
Members may choose to voluntarily disclose a DPI at a meeting even if it is registered on the council’s register of disclosable pecuniary interests but there is no legal requirement to do so.
Members should also ensure they disclose any other interests which may give rise to a conflict under the council’s code of conduct.
In line with the training provided to members by the Monitoring Officer members will also need to consider bias and pre-determination in certain circumstances and whether they have a conflict of interest or should otherwise leave the room for Code reasons. Minutes: Disclosable pecuniary interests
There were none.
Other interests
There were none. |
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Licensing Act 2003: Drafting of Policies for Consultation The purpose of this report is to seek the approval of the Licensing and Safety Committee for officers to revise and draft the following policies for consultation, consideration and ultimate adoption by the Council:
Minutes: Discussion:
The Committee was informed that during this year the following checks, revisions and implementation of policies need to take place and the approval of the Committee was being sought for officers to carry out this work, circulate any proposals for consultation prior to advertising for approval by this Committee either by report to the next meeting or by circulation on email:
Statement of Policy for Gambling dated 2013 – This needs to be reviewed every 3 years and take into account any changes in
· Legislation · Guidance – revisions out for consultation this year could include local area profile, changes to the licence conditions and code of practice, identifying key risks and effective controls to mitigate risk · Local initiatives – Medway Voluntary agreement for betting shops, self exclusion
Statement of Policy for SEV 2012 – This needs to be reviewed as a matter of good practice and checked against any case law for any changes required.
Drafting of a new Taxi Licensing Policy – A consultation questionnaire is currently out seeking the views of both the trade and public on the content of such a policy. The results of that questionnaire, along with current legislation will be considered and form the basis of the draft policy.
The Licensing and Local Land Charges Manager, in response to a question, explained that as far as the Statement of Policy for Gambling was concerned this needed to be in place by the end of January 2016 and as it was a policy framework document would need to go through a route of approval through Committees and to full Council. This meant that the process of consultation could not wait till the July meeting of the Committee.
She suggested that the details of the consultation could be circulated by way of email to the Committee. However, in view of the fact that there may be changes to the Committee membership following the elections in May, this could be difficult. Members felt it would be more advisable for the current Chairman and opposition spokespersons to be consulted outside of the meeting and, if necessary, a special meeting of the Committee could be held.
A request was made for the licensing training for new Members to be set up in the early stages of Member training, however, the Licensing and Local Land Charges Manager stated that the dates for Member training were already set and training for licensing was set for the end of May.
Decision:
The Licensing and Local Land Charges Manager was requested to circulate details of the consultation to the existing Chairman and spokespersons with the final version coming back to this Committee, including the results of the consultation, prior to obtaining final approvals as set out in paragraph 6.2 of the report. |
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Licensing Act 2003: Changes in Legislation The purpose of this report is to update Members of the Licensing and Safety Committee on changes in legislation effective from April 2015. Additional documents: Minutes: Discussion:
The Committee was update on the Legislative Reform (Entertainment Licensing) Order 2014 which will come into force on 6 April 2015, deregulating from the Licensing Act 2003 certain entertainment activities in defined circumstances as detailed in Appendix A to the report and on the handout circulated at the meeting.
With effect from 6 April 2015 a licence will no longer be required for:
Plays, Dance: - 0800-2300 - Audience no more than 500
Films: - 0800-2300 - Audience no more than 500 - Not for profit - Organiser has consent of person responsible for premises: - Organiser abides by age classification ratings (U, 12, 18 etc)
Indoor Sporting Events: - 0800-2300 - Audience no more than 1000
Boxing and Wrestling: - 0800-2300 - audience no more than 1000 - Greco-Roman or Freestyle wrestling
Unamplified Live Music: - 0800=2300 anywhere
Amplified Live Music: - 0800-2300 - Audience no more than 500 - Premises with an ‘on-licence’; or - A ‘workplace’; or - Church Hall, village hall, community hall or similar where organiser has consent of person responsible - Non-residential Local Authority (LA) premises, school or hospital where organiser has consent of the LA, school or healthcare provider
Recorded Music: - 0800-2300 - Audience no more than 500 - Premises with an ‘on-licence’; or - Church Hall, village hall, community hall or similar where organiser has consent of person responsible - Non-residential LA premises, school or hospital where organiser has consent of LA, school or healthcare provider
‘Cross-activity exemptions’: - Any entertainment - 0800-2300 - On LA premises where provided by or on behalf of LA - On hospital premises where provided by or on behalf of healthcare provider - On school premises, where by or on behalf of school proprietor; or at a travelling circus provided: (a) Not films, boxing or wrestling entertainment; (b) Within moveable structure accommodating audience; (c) Not there for more than 28 days
The Licensing and Local Land Charges Manager set out the potential issues arising from the changes in legislation and the associated risks. Members expressed their concerns about the impact of the changes to legislation and felt that the changes were excessive and likely to lead to problems.
In response to those concerns the Licensing and Local Land Charges Manager confirmed that she had put forward a response to the consultation about the changes pointing out the likely issues in particular in relation to noise nuisance.
Members asked what could be done in the event of problems occurring during the period where a licence would not be required. The Licensing and Local Land Charges Manager explained that as per existing legislation a review could be requested by a Ward Councillor, responsible authority, or member of the public. The Planning and Licensing Lawyer stated that at such a review conditions could be imposed.
Further to a question the Licensing and Local Land Charges Manager explained that there would not be a reduced workload in the licensing section because very few applications were purely ... view the full minutes text for item 871. |