Agenda and draft minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday, 16 July 2024 as an accurate record.

The minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday, 16 July 2024 were agreed as an accurate record.

To agree the minutes of the Licensing Sub-Committees meetings held on:

·       Tuesday, 23 July 2024

·       Wednesday, 24 July 2024

·       Wednesday, 21 August 2024

·       Wednesday, 4 September 2024

·       Tuesday, 24 September 2024

·       Tuesday, 1 October 2024

Minutes are created by attending officers from Democratic Services, and unless members have specific knowledge of any inaccuracies, Members of this Committee can approve minutes of previous meetings where they may not have attended.

Members approved the minutes of Licensing Sub-Committee meetings held on:

-        Tuesday, 23 July 2024

-        Wednesday, 24 July 2024

-        Wednesday, 21 August 2024

-        Wednesday, 4 September 2024

-        Tuesday, 24 September 2024

-        Tuesday, 1 October 2024

as accurate records.

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.

Disclosure of Interests Members and co-opted Members of the Council are reminded that, in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct and the statutory provisions of the Localism Act 2011, they are required to consider in advance of each meeting whether they have a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI), some other registrable interest (ORI) or a non-registrable interest (NRI) in relation to any matter on the agenda. If advice is needed, Members should contact the Monitoring Officer in good time before the meeting. If any Member or co-opted Member of the Council identifies a DPI or ORI which they have not already registered on the Council’s register of interests or which requires updating, they must urgently complete the disclosure form which can be obtained from Democratic Services at any time, copies of which will be available at the meeting for return to the Monitoring Officer.

Members and co-opted Members are required in general to disclose any relevant DPIs, ORIs or NRIs at the meeting –

• Where the matter relates to a DPI they may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must not stay in the room unless granted a dispensation.
• Where the matter directly relates to the financial interest or wellbeing of an ORI they may not vote on the matter unless granted a dispensation.
• Where a Member or co-opted Member has an NRI which directly relates to or affects their or a relevant person’s financial interest or wellbeing, whether they can participate in any discussion or vote on the matter or stay in the room depends on the detailed rules in paragraphs 7 of Appendix B of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

The Chair will invite Members to make their disclosure of interests orally at the meeting and they will also be recorded in the minutes.

There were no items of urgent business.

For the reasons set out in the report and its appendices, the Licensing Committee is recommended to:

·       Consider the comments received as part of the formal consultation on the draft Gambling Act 2005 Statement of Principles at Appendix 3 and officers’ responses to those comments at Appendix 4.

·       Endorse the draft Statement of Principles, at Appendix 5 to this report and recommend to Full Council that the Statement of Principles be adopted by Full Council.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing explained that under the Gambling act 2005, the Council was the licensing authority, and the Council licensed the premises within which gambling took place. The Council was not responsible for online gaming, this was a function of the Gambling Commission who were the national regulator for gambling.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing informed the Committee that another duty of the Council was to draw together a policy document known as the statement of principles, to distinguish it from the licensing policy under the Licensing Act. The statement of principles set out how the Council would undertake its functions under the Licensing Act.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing explained that the Council's first statement of principles was drawn together in 2006 and it was a statutory requirement for the Council to review and publicly consult on the document every three years.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing stated that every Council in England and Wales had to conduct the statutory review even if there were no significant proposed any significant changes to the document. The Gambling Commission had their own document called the statutory guidance, and changes were last made to this document in April 2021, so any changes made were factored into the Councils review in 2021.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing informed the Committee that one comment had been received during the public consultation, from the Green party Councillor Patel.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing stated that the policy was subservient to the legislation and the statutory guidance.

In response to questions from Members the Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing explained that before an individual could apply for a premises licence in a Council area, they would need an operator’s licence from the gambling commission who did their own due diligence on the individual’s background.

In response to questions from Members the Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing explained that the document had been amended following comments from the public consultation regarding the social responsibility charter for gaming machines in pubs produced by the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA), the wording in the policy concerning door supervisors was sufficiently broad to cover Members on a Sub Committee for a gambling application if they wanted to include a door supervisor condition on the application.

In response to questions from Members the Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing explained that there was no provision for cumulative impact under gambling legislation. There was likely to be more gambling premises in district retail centres and town centres as there was more footfall in those areas.

In response to questions from Members the Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing explained that the during the consultation period the application went to representatives of all gambling operators in the borough. The holders of premises licenses, all the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11/24

For the reasons set out in the report and its appendices, the Licensing Committee is recommended to:

·       Approve the revisions to the protocol for Licensing Sub-Committee hearings under the Licensing Act 2003 as set out in full at Appendix 1 to this report for use in relation to Licensing Sub-Committee meetings.

·       Approve the revisions to the protocol for Licensing Sub-Committee hearings under the Gambling Act 2005 as set out in full at Appendix 2 to this report for use in relation to Licensing Sub-Committee meetings under the Gambling Act 2005.

·       Note the outcome of the recent High Court decision in respect of remote licensing sub- committee hearings and the impact for the Licensing Authority.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing explained that for many years Council’s have had protocols for how to conduct Licensing Sub Committee hearings, where three Councillors were required to determine an application or a review and there were protocols for the Licensing Act and the Gambling Act.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing informed the Committee that prior to the pandemic all Licensing Sub Committee meetings were held in person. Once the pandemic hit this changed and online Licensing Sub Committee were introduced and there was specific legislation brought in by the government at the time to facilitate that.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing explained that in July 2024 there was a hearing for a review application under the Licensing Act and the license holder challenged the decision of the Licensing Sub Committee and part of their case was that the online hearing was no longer legal as the hearing should have been heard in person and was detrimental to their client. The challenge went to the High Court and was overruled by the judge, who determined that online Licensing Sub Committee hearings were lawful. The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing stated that although the Licensing Sub Committee hearing was in Lewisham, it applied to the whole of England and Wales as it related to the Licensing Act an the legislation.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing informed the Committee that the Licensing Act and Gambling Act hearings protocols had been updated to remove reference in one of the appendices to coronavirus legislation and officers had referred to the legal case earlier this year, which confirmed that online hearings were still lawful.

Councillor Cummings moved to approve the recommendations and Councillor Denton seconded the motion.

The Committee RESOLVED, to:

1.1Approve the revisions to the protocol for Licensing Sub-Committee hearings under the Licensing Act 2003 as set out in full at Appendix 1 to this report for use in relation to Licensing Sub-Committee meetings.

1.2Approve the revisions to the protocol for Licensing Sub-Committee hearings under the Gambling Act 2005 as set out in full at Appendix 2 to this report for use in relation to Licensing Sub-Committee meetings under the Gambling Act 2005.

1.3Note the outcome of the recent High Court decision in respect of remote licensing subcommittee hearings and the impact for the Licensing Authority.

The Chair thanked all participants for their contributions and for attending.

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.