Agenda and minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 17 March 2021 as an accurate record.

The minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 17 March 2021 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 March 2021

§  29 April 2021

§  23 June 2021

The Committee RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the last Licensing Sub-Committee meetings held on Wednesday 24 March 2021, Thursday 29 April 2021 and Wednesday 23 June 2021 as an accurate record.

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 purpose of this report is to seek the Committee’s decision on the proposal to designate two sites in the Borough as a ‘licence street for street trading and the granting of a street trading licence under the provisions of the London Local Authorities Act 1990 (as amended.)

The Committee was advised that the application to designate a section of public highway outside 288 London Road, CR0 2TG (Appendix A) had been withdrawn by the applicant, and thus was not considered at the meeting.

The Committee considered the application to designate a section of public highway outside 228 London Road, CR0 2FT (Appendix B).

The Licensing Manager introduced the item, explaining the process of designation for street trading and applying for street trading licences and the details of the application before the Committee. The Committee was informed that the application had been sent to responsible authorities and advertised in the local press; no representations had been received.

The section of highway in question was Croydon Council maintained.

The Applicant was not present to make a representation.

In response to questions from the Committee, the licensing manager advised that the application site fell within the saturation area of the Council’s street trading policy.

The Committee discussed their concerns around the storage and removal of the display cages after 11pm from the highway which would create noise and disturb neighbouring residents who resided above the shop. As the applicant was not present, the concerns were not addressed. The Committee were not satisfied, on the basis of the information before them that the applicant would be able to adhere to the requirements for street trading.

The Committee were asked to indicate whether they were in favour of granting a street designation order for the site applied for and none were in favour. The Committee were then asked whether they were in favour of refusal and this was carried with all twelve Members unanimously voting in favour of refusal.

The Committee RESOLVED:

1. To refuse to designate 228 London Road for the purposes of street trading and accordingly the Committee did not consider whether or not to grant a Street Trading License to the Applicant.

This report concerns a review of street trading pitch licence fees in Surrey Street and a proposal to increase them.

Officers spoke to the report on the trading pitch licence fees of Surrey Street and highlighted the proposal to increase the fees. In summary, officers informed the Committee that the Council was entitled to calculate fees so that the estimated income for the year covered the estimated costs to the Council of providing the service. The current fees were set in 2006. It was estimated that the additional income from the revised fees would be sufficient to balance the current costs of the council providing street trading services.

Officers informed the Committee that the new fee proposed is £95 per week per trading pitch where the pitch measured 3m x 3m for permanent annual licence holders trading six days a week, Monday to Saturday; £10 per day per trading pitch measuring at 3m x 3m for the first four weeks of trading for new casual (start-up) temporary licence holders; and £20 per day per trading pitch, measuring 3m x 3m, after the first four weeks of trading for casual temporary licence holders. For a permanent and any casual temporary licence holder to trade on a Sunday it would cost £20 per day.

Officers explained that under the London Local Authorities Act 1990 a street trading licence issued by the Council is required to display goods for sale or to supply a service for gain, such as the placing of tables and chairs on the public highway. The current fixed fee in Surrey Street for an annual street trading licence to trade Monday to Saturday from a fixed pitch of 3m x 3m was £75.10. In addition, casual traders are charged £10 per day for the first four weeks and £15 per day thereafter. Temporary street trading licences were also available to permanent and casual traders to trade on Sunday at £15 per day.

Officers further informed the Committee of the statutory consultation process that had been followed by the Council in accordance with the London Local Authorities Act 1990 to give notice of the proposed new fees. It was noted that the permanent traders were predominantly of fresh fruit and vegetables, and were issued with an annual street trading licence. In more recent years, there were a number of hot food vendors trading on Surrey Street, who operated as casual traders and under temporary licences.

The Act allows the local authority to charge such fees for the grant or renewal

of a street trading licence or for the grant of a temporary licence so that the fees are sufficient in aggregate to cover in whole or in part the reasonable administrative or other costs to the Council in connection with their functions under the Act. Other costs may include enforcement and compliance, the cleansing of streets in which street trading takes place and the collection and disposal of refuse.

Officers informed the Committee that there were sixty-seven available trading pitches with currently seventeen permanent licence holders trading over thirty-six and a half pitches, and eight casual traders who trade for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13/21

This report provides background to the request that the Committee delegate authority to the Interim Executive Director Place to do all things necessary to extend and operate the pavement licensing arrangements under the Business and Planning Act 2020 as amended.

Officers spoke to the report highlighting that the hospitality sector was heavily affected by the pandemic, where businesses such as cafés, pubs and restaurants were required to close. The Business and Planning Act 2020 enabled the hospitality sector with furniture, such as table and chairs, to serve on the public highway once covid restrictions started to be eased and the hospitality sector re-opened. This Act was temporary legislation until 30 September 2021, at a maximum fixed price of £100 per licence.

Officers reminded the Committee that though there had been an easing of lockdown restrictions, the hospitality sector was still affected and thus the government had extended The Business and Planning Act 2020 legislation until 30 September 2022.

The legislation enabled businesses within the hospitality sectors to apply for a pavement licence, and for a delegation to be put in place so that the requirements of the legislation could be met.

The Chair welcomed the report and advised that the Committee was being asked to agree the recommendations presented.

Members asked questions relating to the uptake thus far, and whether pavement licensing would merge into permanent street trading at the end of the temporary pavement licence scheme. Officers clarified that pavement licensing was under the Business and Planning Act 2020, which was a completely separate statutory regime from the street trading licenses, which was considered under the London Local Authorities Act 1990 and had different requirements and considerations.

Further, officers confirmed that should the legislation not be extended beyond September 2022 it would mean businesses would have no permit for a pavement licence and their licence would expire after that date. The service would ensure that all the businesses were advised of the end of their licence and that they are required to apply for a permanent street trading licence under the London Local Authorities Act in advance should they desire to continue providing services on the pavements after the Business and Planning Act 2020 had expired. Additionally, the enforcement team would intervene to ensure that businesses adhered to their licence.

Members noted the difficulties the hospitality industry has had where some businesses’ solution to mitigating the risks of covid was to have tables and chairs outside their establishment having not done so before. Members asked questions relating to the implications of businesses taking advantage if the local authority failed to determine an application within the set time period in the legislation and how applications would be handled in saturation areas.

Officers informed the Committee that they had currently issued forty-eight businesses with the current extension that had been available for the last nine months. There was no expectancy of an increase in numbers of applications as the licence was extending what businesses currently have for another year. The service was up to date with all applications that had requested an extension.  Saturation areas were not applicable under the Business and Planning Act. Saturation areas only relate to street trading designations made under the London Local Authorities Act which is  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14/21

A verbal update on training for Members of the Licensing Committee.

The Committee discussed the training sessions available for Members.

The Chair acknowledged that there were new members and returning members sitting on the Committee and the required training was proposed to be completed by all Members before the next Committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday 15 September 2021.

Officers informed that it was important that Members were trained specifically for the Licensing Sub-Committee on the Licensing Act and the Gambling Act and were looking into appropriate providers for training.

There was a request from the Chair to have briefing on the Safety Advisory Group (SAG) where there were licensable activities such as major events, and whether Members were interested in understanding the way in which SAG worked regarding health and safety, and the planning and management of events in parks, for reassurance when considering applications on the Licensing Sub-Committees. Members of the Committee were in favour of the SAG briefing.

It was therefore concluded that mandatory training would be scheduled and provided to all Members with a separate additional briefing of the work of the Safety Advisory Group open to all Committee Members and other Ward Members if of interest.

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 was not required.