Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chair for the remainder of the 2020/21 municipal year.

Councillor Karen Jewitt nominated and Councillor Margaret Bird seconded the motion to appoint Councillor Robert Canning as Chair for the remainder of the municipal year 2020/21.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 30 September 2020 as an accurate record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 30 September 2020 were agreed as an accurate record.

To approve as, an accurate record, the minutes of the meetings of the Licensing Sub-Committee since the last Licensing Committee:

·         24 September 2020

·         6 October 2020

·         22 October 2020

·         4 November 2020

·         12 November 2020

The minutes of the following Licensing Sub-Committees were approved as an accurate record:

·       24 September 2020

·       6 October 2020

·       22 October 2020

·       4 November 2020

·       12 November 2020

To receive notice of any business not on the agenda which in the opinion of the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no items of urgent business.

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct and the statutory provisions of the Localism Act, Members and co-opted Members of the Council are reminded that it is a requirement to register disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) and gifts and hospitality to the value of which exceeds £50 or multiple gifts and/or instances of hospitality with a cumulative value of £50 or more when received from a single donor within a rolling twelve month period. In addition, Members and co-opted Members are reminded that unless their disclosable pecuniary interest is registered on the register of interests or is the subject of a pending notification to the Monitoring Officer, they are required to disclose those disclosable pecuniary interests at the meeting. This should be done by completing the Disclosure of Interest form and handing it to the Democratic Services representative at the start of the meeting. The Chair will then invite Members to make their disclosure orally at the commencement of Agenda item 3. Completed disclosure forms will be provided to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion on the Register of Members’ Interests.

There were none.

The Committee is asked to determine whether to designate the site detailed at Appendix A for the purposes of street trading and if designated to then determine whether to grant a street trading license to the site.

The Committee considered the application to designate a section of public highway outside Jalal Butcher's & Grocer's, 123 High Street, Thornton Heath, CR7 8RZ.

The Head of Public Protection and Licensing introduced the application. He explained the process of designation for street trading, applying for street trading licences and the details of the application for the Committee to consider as written in the appendices. He highlighted the following:

·       In reference to Page 48 of the agenda, he said that the application asked for a trading area length of 1.8 metres and a width of 1.2 metres to each side of the front entrance area. This would leave a clear pavement width of 3.6 metres tapering 3.3 metres from the edge of the proposed display to the curb. This was a Croydon Council maintained stretch of public highway, where the minimum required width of pavement was 2 metres.

·       This matter was originally considered by the Licensing Committee on 30 September 2020 where members resolved to defer the application.

·       No objections or comments had been received for the application.

·       The measurements in the application had been agreed by an enforcement officer following a site visit and a temporary licence was currently in place.

·       There were three other premises on the same row already licensed for street trading.

·       The premise was in the saturation zone in the council’s street trading policy.

The applicant was not present to make a representation.

Councillor Nina Degrads joined the meeting at 6.40pm.

The Market & Street Trading Compliance Officer told the Committee that the applicant had agreed with officers that he would be willing to reduce the width to 1 metre and replace the brown display box to improve the appearance if necessary. There was no written record of this.

The Chair opened Committee Member questions to officers.

The Head of Public Protection and Licensing confirmed to a Member that the entirety of the pavement was public highway and the drainage grill did not indicate a border of ownership.

A Member stated that the pavement had been extended wider during a past regeneration project and there used to be railings which were removed. She noted that in response to comments made about the closeness of buses to the curb, as a Ward Councillor for the Thornton Heath area she had no recollection of buses mounting the pavement. She asked for the comparisons in width of the pavement between this premise application and the neighbouring premises. The Market & Street Trading Compliance Officer replied the other premises held a street designations of 0.8 and 0.9 metres.

Members raised concern over the potential overhang of a bus bumper when turning the corner onto the pavement which was higher risk due to the congestion of the street. Residents with mobility issues and visual impairments needed to be considered when encroaching on to the pavement in those conditions. They noted that the premise was located in a saturation area and stated that it would be preferable for a smaller width in line with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23/20

The Committee is asked to consider the proposal to commence consultation on the proposal to maintain Cumulative Impact Areas as currently set out in the Licensing Statement of Policy 2018 and the reasons for this, agree that consultation be commenced regarding Cumulative Impact Areas and to note that the outcome of the consultation exercise will be reported back to

Committee for further consideration and, if necessary, onward

recommendation to Full Council.

The Head of Public Protection and Licensing introduced the report. He stated that Croydon’s Licensing Statement of Policywas last reviewed in 2017 and republished in 2018. The Licensing Act 2003 required local authorities to review and republish the policy every five years, therefore a review for Croydon Council was due in 2022. Since 2018, Cumulative Impact Zones (CIZs) had been put on an equal statutory footing to the licensing objectives. CIZs could be introduced or removed by councils during a review. For CIZs already in existence before 2018, guidance recommended that they be reviewed at a maximum of three years following the legislative change, which meant Corydon must review its existing CIZs before 6 April 2021 using a Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA). According to those deadlines, during 2020 the council ideally would have collected data, however the pandemic had seriously limited the ability to measure valid data due to the effect on premises and street activity during this time.

The proposal to Committee was that the licensing authority undertake a six week consultation, with the proposal to extend the current cumulative impact policy in its current form on the understanding that a comprehensive review would be undertaken when the council reviewed its overarching Licensing Statement of Policy in 2022. Following consultation, the proposal would return to the next Licensing Committee for consideration  in March 2021.

In response to the Chair, the Head of Public Protection and Licensing stated that consultation would commence as soon as possible following agreement from the Committee today.

In response to Members noting that restrictions resulting from CIZs would hinder struggling businesses in the current financial climate, the Head of Public Protection and Licensing commented that the removal CIZs had to be based on data and CIZs were not a blunt tool. CIZs set a presumption to refuse an application in the area, however exceptional applications were able to be granted on their merits. Other Members noted the need for CIZs in particular areas in Croydon and they did not affect good applications being granted.

In response to a Member asking if other councils were using a similar approach to that proposed here, the Head of Public Protection and Licensing stated not all councils would be in the same position at as they may not be due for a review at the same time as Croydon, but they would be in a situation of considering this extension when required. Some councils may have decided to withdraw CIZs, however he would question the validity of the data in this period.

In response to Members’ questioning how the licensing department would consulting with stakeholders, the Head of Public Protection and Licensing stated they would be consulting with statutory consultees, as listed at paragraph 3.7 of the report, and council would send out communications as an engagement consultation. In the future event of any proposal to add or remove a CIZ based on data, rather than temporally maintain the current policy, they would consult  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24/20

The Committee is asked to consider the recommendations as set out in the report.

The Head of Public Protection and Licensing introduced the report, which outlined the proposal to delegate decisions for uncontested applications of street trading licenses to the Director of Public Realm, in consultation with the Chair of Licensing Committee. He stated this would save resource where Members and applicants would not be summoned for non-contentious business.

It was noted by a Member that there were some applications where it was useful for Members to meet and utilise their specific knowledge in their wards and local areas, which would not be considered otherwise. The Chair added that all Members of the Council were provided with a generic weekly notification of licensing applications, however they were not personally sent to individual Members on a ward basis. He proposed that if the delegation was granted, going forward Members should receive personalised notifications to inform them of relevant applications to their ward as an extra safeguard. He asked how many applications were received in a typical year. The Head of Public Protection and Licensing replied that each Committee considered 6-7 designations and occasionally an application to vary a license. He agreed the Licensing department would look into sending applications to specific ward councillors.

A Member raised concern for increasing delegation to officers following the findings of the Report in the Public Interest (RIPI) from external auditor Grant Thornton, which concluded that a small number of Members and officers made decisions for the council. The Chair responded that the proposal mirrored the Planning department model and that any application with an objection would still be considered in front of Members. Once ward councillors received more personalised application notifications from the Licensing department, their awareness and empowerment to represent local businesses, residents and communities would be increased from the current position. Another Member added that following the RIPI recommendations, it made sense to support this proposal and allow efficient use of council resources.

The Committee RESOLVED to:

1.               Delegate authority to the Director of Public Realm, in consultation with the Chair of the Licensing Committee, to consider and determine the following matters pursuant to the provisions of the London Local Authorities Act 1990 ("the Act"), as amended:

a)    Applications for a Street Designation Order (designation of a License Street or part of street) under Section 24 of the Act which are not located within the Council's Saturation Zone for these purposes and in respect of which no objections have been received (or if received but have been subsequently withdrawn). If the Director of Public Realm is satisfied that street trading should be licensed in the authority area (or specified part thereof), the Director of Public Realm may, subject to consultation requirements, pass one or more of the following resolutions:

•        A designating resolution designating any street (or part thereof) within the borough as a "licence street";

•        A resolution specifying in relation to any such street (or part thereof) any class/es of articles, things or services which will or will not be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25/20

The following motion is to be moved and seconded where it is proposed to exclude the press and public from the remainder of a meeting:

“That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within those paragraphs indicated in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.”

This item was not required.