Agenda and minutes

Apologies had been received from Emma Edhem, Deputy Kevin Everett and Christopher Hayward. In addition, both Deputy Edward Lord and Andrien Meyers were welcomed as new Members.

Further, Gemma Stokley, Town Clark will be going on Maternity Leave. Members wished her well and thanked her for her work with the committee. In additiion, the Chairman welcomed Bose Kayode, Town Clark, who will be covering in Gemma’s absence.

Deputy Edward Lord declared that given the length of time that he has known Laura Willoughby of Club Soda, he wished to make it known that they were friends.

To agree the public minutes of the meeting held on 3 May 2017.

The public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 3 May 2017 were approved as a correct record subject to the following amendment:

Minute 5 – Election of Deputy Chairman

The Town Clerk read out a list of Members eligible to stand as Deputy Chairman. Sophie Fernandes, being the only Member indicating his willingness to stand as Chairman, was duly elected for the ensuing year.

Be amended to:

Minute 5 – Election of Deputy Chairman

The Town Clerk read out a list of Members eligible to stand as Deputy Chairman. Sophie Fernandes, being the only Member indicating her willingness to stand as Deputy Chairman, was duly elected for the ensuing year.

Matters Arising

Minute 8a – Louie’s Bar – Ten

Members were advised that Louie’s Barhad applied for and been granted a license.

Minute 11 – Charity Collections Terms of Reference

Members were informed that the Terms of Reference had been approved by the Court of Common Council without any objection.

Minute 16– House of Lords Select Committee on the Licensing Act 2003

Members were informed that there had not been any further advice or development since the last meeting.

In response to a question from a member as to whether Deputy Edward Lord was automatically added as a member who could serve as a Sub Committee Chairman, Members were informed that this was the case and that he had automatic rights to serve on the Sub Committee given that he had previously served as a past Chairman of the Grand Committee.

To receive the public minutes of the meeting regarding the application for ‘Gremio de Fenchursch’, 26A, Savage Gardens, EC3N 2AR’ held on 22 June 2017.

The Committee received the public minutes and decision notice of the hearing regarding ‘Gremio de Fenchurch’, 26A Savage Gardens, London, EC3N 2AR held on 22^nd June 2017.

RECEIVED. 

To receive the public minutes of the meeting regarding the application for a variation to a premises licence at ‘Humble Grape’, 1 St Brides Passage, London, EC4Y 8EJ’

held on 7 July 2017.

The Committee received the public minutes and decision notice of the hearing regarding ‘Humble Grape Limited’, 1 St Brides Passage, London, EC4Y 8EJ, held on 7 July 2017.

RECEIVED.

The Comptroller and City Solicitor to be heard.

The Comptroller and City Solicitor reported that there had been no appeals since the Committee’s last meeting in May 2017.

Joint report of the Chamberlain and the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection.

Members received a joint report from The Chamberlain and the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection which compared the revenue outturn for the services overseen by the Committee in 2016/17 with the final budget for the year. Members noted that the overall total net expenditure during the year was £25,000 whereas the total budget was £88,000. This represented an underspending of £63,000.

Members were shown a ‘Summary Comparison of the 2016/17 Revenue Outturn with the Final Budget’. It was noted that the underspend was largely due to additional income from an increase in the volume of licence applications. A local risk underspend on Late Night Levy related costs was fully offset by a reduction in Late Night Levy income.

In response to a question as to why any underspend had not been carried forward, Members were informed that underspend could be carried forward for all our locally set fee types, however, this does not include premises fees which are currently set nationally, or costs which we are unable to recover. Members asked that a note be included in future reports providing a clear outline of which costs are recovered. 

RESOLVED – That, Members note the report and the proposed carry forward of underspendings to 2017/18.

Report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection.

N.B. This Item is to be read in conjunction with the appendix at Item No. 14.

Members received a report from the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection. The report detailed the premises licences and variations to premises licences granted under the Licensing Act 2003 by the Licensing Service from 1 April 2017 to 30 June 2017. It did not include any premises where Members had been involved in the decision making process i.e. decisions made at licensing sub-committee hearings.

The report provided a summary of the enforcement action taken under the Licensing Act 2003 between 1 April 2017 to 30 June 2017. The report also presented data from the ‘traffic light’ risk scheme introduced within the City of London on 1 April 2013 with the data covering the period 1 January 2017 to 30 June 2017.

In response to a question as to whether the condition requiring the imposition of CCTV was being overused, Members were informed that the condition is being included by applicants in their applications as opposed to being imposed by officers.

In response to a question as to how many active licenses are in the square mile, members were advised that there are 851.

RESOLVED – That, Members note the report.

The Licensing Manager to be heard.

The Committee heard from the Licensing Manager who provided a verbal update on the Safety Thirst Scheme Update.

Members were informed that 55 applications had been received for the scheme to date. It is anticipated, that the target of 60 applications would be reached or exceeded. To date, 34 inspections have been carried out. Of those 34 applications, 33 were approved and passed. It was anticipated that last year’s total of 47 awards would be exceeded this year.

The Safety Thirst Awards will be taking place on 24 October 2017, 15:00, Livery Hall. All Members are welcome.

In response to a question as to what work had been done to streamline the application process for smaller businesses who had previously stated that they felt that the application process/forms required were too onerous for them, Members were informed that work had gone into improving the application form and streamlining the process. As a result, the time spent on audits had reduced.

In response to a question as to whether Club Soda would be invited to have a stand at the Safety Thirst event, Members were informed that the idea was welcomed and discussions had taken place. In addition, Members suggested Club Soda having an award which could be presented to the ‘Top City Venue’.

In response to a question as to whether the agenda of the Safety Thirst Awards had been revised, Members were informed that the programme of the day had been revised. Food and drink will be served on arrival followed by the award ceremony.

To be accompanied by a presentation from Laura Willoughby of Club Soda.

Members received a report and presentation from Laura Willoughby of Club Soda. Members were provided with background and an overview of the scheme.  It was noted that as of 14 March, 108 City venues had signed up to the Guide website.

In addition, Members were briefed on the Public facing campaign which took place in January. The campaign aimed to encourage individuals to try out venues. In addition, over 200 mindful pub crawl packs were distributed in the City. The City Mindful Pub Crawl launch had over 50 attendees and was covered on London Live. The project also reaped positive and significant local and national media interest and there were some TV appearances.

The Objectives and outcomes for 2017/2018 were also discussed and included increasing the number and type of venues on the guide and improving engagement with Members of the public, customers and businesses. The budget for the project for 2017/2018 is £30,000.

Members were informed that the project had begun to build a reputation within local government for innovation, engaging people and businesses, rapid prototyping and development of new ideas. In addition, it was noted that the LGA and other councils had been made enquiries as to the implementing the learning elsewhere. In addition, Members were informed that the GLA is interested in how the projects ideas could dovetail with new Night-Time Economy Plans and would like to be able to continue to promote the partnership with the City across the Local Government Family as a piece of pioneering work.

The project has also gained credibility with the pub and bar trade through positive news coverage. As a result, Club Soda had been invited to speak at a number of influential pub and bar conferences. The trade recognises the expertise that has been built up in the last

There were no questions.

MINUTES OF LICENSING HEARING (SUB) COMMITEE – DISAPPEARING DINING CLUB

The Committee received the public minutes and decision notice (tabled) of the hearing regarding ‘Disappearing Dining Club Limited’, 24-26 Newbury Street, London, EC1A 7HU held on 4 May 2017.

RECEIVED.

MOTION - That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

RESOLVED - That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 3 May 2017.

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 3 May 2017 were considered and approved as a correct record.

Non-public appendix to be read in conjunction with Item No.7.

The Committee received a non-public appendix to Item 7 on the agenda providing Members with details of those premises obtaining sufficient points on the Risk Scheme to reach red or amber for the period 1 January 2017 – 30 June 2017.

Report of the City of London Police.

The Committee received a report from the City of London Police updating Members on issues of Violent Crime from licensed premises within the City during the period 13th April 2017 until date of writing, 4th July 2017.

Members indicated that, for future reference, it would be beneficial having a list of trends over a period of time.

There were no questions raised in the non-public session.

There were no additional, urgent items of business for consideration in the non-public session.