Agenda and minutes

Licensing and Safety Committee - Tuesday, 4 July 2017 6.00pm

Venue: Meeting Room 2 - Level 3, Gun Wharf, Dock Road, Chatham ME4 4TR

Contact: Stephen Platt, Democratic Services Officer 

Items
No. Item

117.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Etheridge. 

118.

Record of Meeting and Joint Meeting of Committees pdf icon PDF 67 KB

To approve the record of the meeting held on 8 March 2017 and of the Joint Meeting of Committees held on 17 May 2017.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The record of the meeting held on 8 March 2017 and the record of the joint meeting of Committees held on 17 May 2017 were agreed and signed by the Chairman as correct. 

119.

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. 

120.

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. 

121.

Amendments to the Licensing Act 2003 - Delegations to the Licensing Hearing Panel pdf icon PDF 279 KB

The purpose of this report is to inform the Committee of amendments to the Licensing Act 2003 as a result of the Policing and Crime Act 2017. The report seeks the Committee’s agreement to the delegation of a specific function to the Licensing Hearing Panel concerning the suspension or revocation of Personal Licences issued by the Council as the Licensing Authority.

Minutes:

Discussion:

 

The Licensing and Local Land Charges Manager introduced a report informing the Committee of amendments to the Licensing Act 2003 as a result of the Policing and Crime Act 2017. These concerned the definition of alcohol under the Act; the review of any interim steps imposed at a summary licensing review pending the full review hearing; consideration of the interim steps at a full review hearing; powers to revoke or suspend a personal licence; and the addition of further offences under the Act.

 

The report sought the Committee’s agreement to the delegation of a specific function to the Licensing Hearing Panel concerning the suspension or revocation of personal licences issued by the Council as the Licensing Authority. Members discussed this additional power and were advised that training would be provided prior to a meeting of the Licensing Hearing Panel where a personal licence was to be reviewed. Although the Council had issued a considerable number of personal licences, the holders did not all work within Medway. It was not envisaged that there would be many Licensing Hearing Panel reviews specifically for this purpose. An option would be to consider the removal of the licence holder as Designated Premises Supervisor as part of a review of the Premises Licence.

 

Decision:

 

The Committee:

 

(a)   noted the amendments to the Licensing Act 2003 as a result of the Policing and Crime Act 2017;

 

(b)  extended the functions of the Licensing Hearing Panel to include the power to suspend or revoke personal licences, as set out in Appendix 1 to the agenda report; and

 

(c)   noted that the Monitoring Officer, who has delegated authority to make minor changes to the Council’s Constitution, would amend the Constitution to incorporate the additional function of the Licensing Hearing Panel.