Agenda item

The Board gave a consideration to the proposed Statement of Licensing Policy that would be submitted to the Council for adoption in due course. 

Members were reminded that the Licensing Act 2003, the primary piece of legislation which regulates the alcohol, entertainment and late-night refreshment industry, requires licensing authorities to prepare and publish a statement of their licensing policy every five years. The Policy must be kept under review and the licensing authority may make such revisions to the Policy as it considers appropriate.   The Policy is underpinned by four licensing objectives, comprising the prevention of crime and disorder; the prevention of public nuisance; public safety; and the protection of children from harm, which must be considered by both operators and regulators.

The submitted proposed revised Policy was presented to the Committee, with principal areas of change or update being highlighted in the text.  These areas particularly addressed –

·         protection of children from harm where advice had been received from the Safeguarding Children Board, for example in updating definitions;

·         Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) and Child Criminal Exploitation (CEE) where advice had been received from the Safeguarding Children Board and a number of recommendations or encouragements were being made to licence holders and operators of licensed premises;

·         alcohol delivery services which had developed in recent years;

·         boxing, particularly in the consideration of ‘White Collar Boxing’, often undertaken for charity and involving non-boxers;

·         considerations following the inclusion of a Local Authority’s ‘Public Health’ department as a responsible Authority, including the use of public health data in considering licensing applications and reviews; and

·         pavement licences, the application for and issue of which had been encouraged during the Covid pandemic.

The Committee was advised that, since preparation of the draft Policy, the government had announced its intention to legislate to introduce a ‘Protect’ duty in respect of publicly accessible locations.  This legislation would not be introduced prior to approval of the Council’s Policy, but it was proposed to insert the following content to highlight the duty - 

“At the time of issuing this policy statement the Council is aware that a consultation has recently been launched by HM Government in relation to a proposed protect duty.  This duty, through legislation, would compel operators and owners of premises such as entertainment and sports venues, tourist attractions, large retail stores, operators of parks, pedestrianised areas, town squares to give considerations to security implications and assess threats and implement appropriate mitigating measures.  Whilst it is acknowledged that decisions have yet to be taken on this issue it is clear that security is a high priority for the Government and that legislation of some kind is highly likely to follow.  It is for that reason that we would ask operators of licensed premises/venues and open spaces to consider the threats they could face and consider some examples of good practice as outlined in possible conditions to licences in Appendix 1 to this licensing policy statement.”

With regard to the proposed Policy content relating to CSE and CEE, in noting that this was a complex area it was queried whether there was any training either provided or which could be signposted.  The Committee was advised that the training package for taxi licensing was being reviewed, the use of which for these purposes could be considered.  In the meantime, it may be possible to provide links in the Policy to relevant training.  Further to the issue of training and in response to a further query, the Training Standards and Licensing Manager undertook to look into whether there could be a requirement for certification of training provided to be on display in pubs to provide public awareness of training delivered, or at the least for there to be some reference in the Policy that this issue was being looked into. 

The Trading Standards and Licensing Manager undertook to investigate the existence of, or the potential to develop, a scheme for young men or for young people generally that was similar to the ‘Ask Angela’ scheme whereby young women who felt vulnerable could seek assistance.  Noting the requirements for ‘Challenge 25’ schemes in the proposed Policy, the application of this to home delivery services and what steps companies were expected to take to promote age restrictions on their websites and on delivery was queried.  The Committee was advised that such applications were considered high risk and that applicants and their practices were always vetted, which included a consideration as to whether website content could be bolstered.  

Further to the proposed Policy, details as to checks made on licensed premises were sought.  The Committee was advised that with hundreds of different licensed premises across differing sectors, it was not possible to visit them all on a regular basis.  An intelligence led approach was adopted, with issues and complaints raised by various agencies and the public being investigated.  With a knowledge of the area and the trade, Council Officers were also aware of those areas or premises more likely to present issues or concerns.

RESOLVED that

1.            the report be noted;

2.            subject to a consideration by the Trading Standards and Licensing Manager as to content relating to the provision of or signposting to training and to the display of certification or confirmation of training provided as discussed by the Committee, and the inclusion of content related to the proposed Protect duty, the adoption of the proposed Statement of Licensing Policy by the Council be endorsed.