Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Christopher Hayward and Judith Pleasance.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes of the meeting held on 27 April 2016.

The public minutes of the meeting held on 27 April 2016 were considered and approved as a correct record.

To receive the public minutes and decision notice of the meeting regarding ‘The Disappearing Dining Club Ltd’, 24-26 Newbury Street, EC1A 7HU’ held on 2 June 2016.

The Committee received the minutes of the Licensing Hearing meeting for ‘Disappearing Dining Club Limited’ held on 2 June 2016.

The Chairman reported that this was an application for a new premises licence which had been refused - something which was relatively rare for the City Corporation. The Chairman went on to report that the deadline for appealing this decision had now passed and that, to date, the Comptroller and City Solicitor had not been notified of any intention to appeal.

The Comptroller clarified that it was, however, possible that the applicant might have notified the Magistrates' Court of their proposal to appeal and that there might be some delay in the Magistrates' Court notifying the Comptroller of this.

RECEIVED.

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

The Committee received a joint report of the Chamberlain and the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection comparing the revenue outturn for the services overseen by the Licensing Committee in 2015/16 with the final budget for the year.

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 April 2016.

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. 15.

The Committee received a report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection detailing the premises licences, and variations to premises licences, granted under the Licensing Act 2003 by the Licensing Service from 1 April 2016 to 19 June 2016.

In response to a question regarding the new licence application from Smiths of Smithfield, the Licensing Manager reported that this was a new application for a new licence in a new area as far as he was aware.

With regard to Enforcement Action carried out under the Licensing Act 2003, the Deputy Chairman requested that Members have sight of the warning letters issued in future. The Licensing Manager reported that he was happy to circulate copies of all warning letters issued to members of the Licensing Committee ahead of future Committee meetings.

A Member questioned the new licence issued for the proposed development site at 27-32 Poultry and why this application had been made so early in the process. The Licensing Manager responded by stating that it was becoming increasingly common for applications to be submitted many months before trading was due to commence. He clarified that, as no objections had been received, this licence was now valid. The Chairman clarified that this was the old Midland Bank site and would now be converted to hotel use. He highlighted that certain conditions had been applied to the licence granted and that these were set out in full within the report.

The City of London Police confirmed that they had met at length with the future operators of the premises who had agreed that no promoted events would be held on the premises. They had also offered to work with the City of London Police at the earliest opportunity. The City of London Police were therefore not concerned by the granting

Report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection regarding a review of the Statement of Licensing Policy and a timescale for consultation and publication.

The Licensing Manager reported that although the document was not statutorily due for review until 2018, many legislative changes and changes in the Corporation's own policies and procedures had led to a complete re-write of the existing document. He added that the idea was that the revised document would be a useful working document for the public, members and potential applicants alike. Members were informed that new sections on licensing hours, the late night levy, cumulative impact and Temporary Event Notices had been added to the revised document.

The Licensing Manager went on to report that it was proposed that consultation on the revised document commence next week for a period of 8 weeks before bringing the amended version to the October Licensing Committee for approval and then to the Court of Common Council in December 2016 for final sign off.

With regard to the section of the document entitled 'Enforcement and other Legislation', sub-heading 'Planning', the Licensing Manager responded to a question by stating that officers felt that it was necessary to underline that Licensing and Planning are two separate regimes within the revised document. He added that if Licensing officers were aware that if an applicant did not yet have planning permission they would write to them to inform them that they would not be able to carry out any licensable activity without this. He clarified that Licensing and Planning applications could be made in any order.

A Member commended officers on the revision of the document. He went on to question if a glossary and a list of acronyms could also be attached to the new document which

Report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection detailing the income collected from the Late Night Levy to date, and forecast to be collected over the next nine months, covering a total period of thirty months. The report also considers areas for future expenditure.

The Chairman reminded Members that they had requested this level of detail on the Late Night Levy income and expenditure at the last meeting of the Licensing Committee. The Licensing Manager reported that it was forecast that a total of £292,000 would have been collected and apportioned to the City Corporation by March 2017. Of this, £177,000 (£84,000 in 2015/16 and £93,000 in 2016/17) had been spent or was programmed to be spent by the end of March 2017, leaving a total of £115,000 unspent. The Licensing Manager went on to remind Members that funds collected from the Late Night Levy could only be spent in specific areas and had to be shown to benefit those premises open after midnight. 

The Committee were informed that final spend decisions would be taken by the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Licensing Committee alongside the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection. However, there were some suggestions for future expenditure within the report for discussion.

A Member expressed concern that questions he had posed on the Late Night Levy at previous meetings of the Licensing Committee had not been answered. He referred to the formula for Levy reduction featured within the legislation and guidance for the Levy. He added that he had expected to see this referred to within a written report alongside Officer's views on what the City Corporation could and could not do around this. Other Members questioned whether the formula was directory or mandatory. Another Member questioned whether those premises that

The Licensing Manager to be heard.

The Licensing Manager reported that 57 applications had been received to date. It was not expected that more than 60 would be received in total.

The Committee were informed that 34 assessments had been completed to date. Of these, 32 had met the Safety Thirst Scheme criteria. One applicant had withdrawn from the process and there were still 22 outstanding assessments to be completed.

The Licensing Manager concluded by reporting that the number of applications received, that had met the Safety Thirst scheme criteria was up on those received in the previous two years.

Members were informed that the date of this year's Safety Thirst Awards ceremony would be Tuesday 18 October 2016 from 3.00pm. 

Peanut Sellers on Bridges

The Deputy Chairman questioned action that could be taken against peanut sellers on the Thames bridges. She added that effectively deterring these sellers would require a co-ordinated effort from Environmental Health, the Police, the London Fire Brigade (given that the sellers were in possession of gas cylinders) and Licensing Officers. She added that numerous residents and businesses continued to raise this as a major issue and were getting increasingly frustrated at what they perceived to be a lack of action taken.

The Deputy Chairman added that, as Westminster cracked down on this issue, the sellers seemed to have an increasing presence in the City.

In response to questions around what action could be taken against the sellers, the Comptroller and City Solicitor reported that, as this was a Level 3 offence, it could carry a fine of up to £1,000, the carts could be destroyed and, if individuals persisted to offend, the authorities could seek an injunction.

The Deputy Chairman requested that a written report on illegal trading be produced for the next Licensing Committee meeting and that this feature regularly on the agenda in order to allow Members to monitor the situation.

The Licensing Manager clarified that street trading was the responsibility of the Port Health & Environmental Services Committee. Members commented that this Committee had previously seen updates on ice cream sellers and felt strongly that street trading matters should be reported to all relevant committees to ensure sufficient oversight of the matter.

The Chairman and Deputy Chairman undertook to discuss this matter further with the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection to ascertain what future reporting lines on 'street trading' might be.

The Licensing Manager reported that Licensing Officers had responsibility for enforcing Street Trading and that they had been working alongside the City

There were no additional, urgent items of business for consideration.

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.

            Item No.                                                          Paragraph No(s).

               14                                                                        1, 3 & 5

               15                                                                             1

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 27 April 2016.

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 27 April 2016 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 November 2015 to 30 April 2016.

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.