Agenda item

The Team Manager for Licensing and Environmental Protection introduced this item. She said the draft revised policy was the result of ten months work by officers and stakeholders. The review had taken forward some of the recommendations from the Alcohol Scrutiny day held in 2013 which were to emphasise the role the licensing regime can play in supporting public health objectives. The aim had been to produce a sustainable document that would be of practical assistance to licensees. The value of designating a cumulative impact area and the appropriateness of the currently designated area had also been considered.

A Member asked whether the Code of Best Practice appended to the new Statement of Licensing Policy could be amended without having to approve the whole Statement again. The Team Manager for Licensing and Environmental Protection replied that the Statement had to be reviewed every five years, but could be reviewed at any time. It was intended that the Code of Best Practice should be posted on the Council’s website to that it could be easily updated to reflect current best practice. The Principal Solicitor advised that a late-night levy, for example, could be introduced before the five-year mandatory review of the Statement, but it would require a revision to the Statement and could not just be a Cabinet decision.

The Chair praised the workshop on safeguarding, which she and several members had attended before the meeting and wondered whether safeguarding principles could be incorporated in the Statement of Licensing Policy. Members discussed this. A consensus emerged that child protection and safeguarding officers should be consulted about licence applications when appropriate, and should in relevant cases attend licence application hearings. It was suggested that this should be stated in paragraph 36.6 of the Statement. It was also suggested by the Team Manager for Licensing and Environmental Protection that a paragraph on safeguarding could be included under the heading ‘Legislation, Policies and Strategies’ A Member suggested that  there should be a section on the report to Licensing Sub Committee which  indicated  that that officers  had considered safeguarding issues in relation to the application. The Chair said that safeguarding needed to be embedded in the process in the same way that disability awareness had been embedded in many administrative processes.

Members discussed the Cumulative Impact Area. One said that he had not been in favour of it when it had been proposed, and it seemed that there were more licensed premises in the Cumulative Impact Area than before it was designated; he thought it should be abolished. Other Members expressed scepticism about its usefulness. The Principal Solicitor suggested that the existence of the Cumulative Impact Area made applicants think more carefully about applications relating to premises in the Area and that some benefits for residents had been secured that might not have been otherwise.

At conclusion of discussions it was RESOLVED unanimously

1. To note the comments received from the consultation exercise and to accept the officer recommendations set out in Annex A;

2. To recommend that the revised Policy and Code of Best Practice, provided at Annex B, be presented to the Full Council at its meeting on 13th November 2014 with a recommendation that the Policy and Code of Best Practice be adopted.

It was also RESOLVED by 8 votes in favour and 1 against to recommend the continuation of the existing Cumulative Impact Area in Bath City Centre.