Agenda and minutes

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

·       Tuesday, 21 May 2024

·       Monday, 10 June 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:

-        21 May 2024

-        10 June 2024

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.

Members are invited to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) they may have in relation to any item(s) of business on today’s agenda.

Councillor Srinivasan declared that he was familiar with the applicant and explained that the applicant was his tenant. Councillor Srinivasan was advised by the Deputy Monitoring Officer that he should not take part in the first item as he had a conflict of interest.

Councillor Srinivasan left the Council Chamber at 6.45pm.

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

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing explained that if an individual wished to place goods for sale on the public highway, they needed to have a street trading licence. The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing stated that before an annual street trading licence could be issued the site would need to be designated for the purpose of street trading.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing informed the Committee that the application sought a trading area on the left-hand side of the door of 2.3m in length, 2.1m in width and on the right hand side of the door 2.2m in length and 2.1m wide. The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing explained that the total distance from the store front to the nearest obstruction was 5.3m, this left a clear pavement width of 3.2m for pedestrians and the minimum required pavement width for street trading purposes was 2m.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing stated that the requested times of trading was on Monday to Sunday from 9am to 9pm, the application was placed in the local newspaper and no comments had been received and there had been no comments from the police licensing officer, food safety team, planning, highways and parking services teams or food trading team.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing informed the Committee that the measurements requested had been checked by an officer and during the site visit and a temporary licence was issued to the applicant.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing stated that there were seven other designated street trading sites in the immediate vicinity of the premises and the premises fell within the Council’s saturation policy for street trading.

In response to questions from Members the Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing explained that officers would not call specific Licensing Committee meetings to consider one application and if there were others then they also would have been considered at this meeting. The Markets and Street Trading Compliance Officer explained that the applicant was unsure on the dimensions of his display so there had been quite a few changes to the proposed display in the lead up to the application being submitted. 

In response to questions from Members the Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing explained that officers had not received any complaints from members of the public or any other parties. The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing stated that there were seven other sites designated for street trading in the immediate vicinity of the premises, the saturation policy was in place primarily on safety grounds. The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing informed Members that if the number of street trading sites had a negative impact on pedestrians, then the policy would come into effect.

In response to questions from Members the Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4/24

This Report provides background to the request that the Committee delegate authority to the Corporate Director, Sustainable Communities, Regeneration & Economic Recovery to do all things necessary to implement and operate the permanent pavement licensing arrangements under The Business and Planning Act 2020 (as amended). It also recommends that the Committee set the duration of a pavement licence at one year and that the Committee sets the fee for an application for a new pavement licence at £500 and the fee for an application to renew a pavement licence at £350.

Members will recall that the temporary Pavement Licensing regime introduced under the Business and Planning Act 2020 was in force, following three extensions, until September 2024. However, the Government made amendments to the 2020 Act via The Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 which has made the pavement licensing provisions permanent. This report details the permanent provisions.

In summary, the permanent provisions have an increased standard fee cap for both new and renewal licence applications, slightly increased consultation and determination periods relative to the temporary regime, a longer potential maximum duration of licenses and provides local authorities with new enforcement powers, including to remove unlicensed furniture.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing explained that for the last three years officers had brought an annual report in respect of pavement licencing, this was introduced by the government as a result of the pandemic.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing informed the Committee that the business and Planning Act 2020 included provision for pavement licensing and allowed premises such as cafes, restaurants and pubs to have tables and chairs on the public highway as people were unable not able to sit inside during the pandemic.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing explained that the report was last brought to the Committee in September 2023, and the government had since made the act permanent.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing stated that the chairs and tables had to be removeable.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing informed the Committee that the first recommendation was to delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Sustainable Communities, Regeneration & Economic Recovery to do all things necessary to implement and operate the pavement licensing arrangements on a permanent basis.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing explained that the fee under the temporary provisions was £100, the duration was for 1 year and the consultation and determination periods were for seven days each (14 days in total).

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing stated that the government had introduced two new fee caps, £350 for a renewal of an existing licence and £500 for a new licence for a duration of up to 2 years. The government had also extended the consultation and determination periods to 14 days each.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing informed the Committee that the recommendation was for the duration of the license to be set at 1 year, £350 for a renewal of an existing licence and the fee for a new licence set at £500. The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing stated that these fees would not cover the Council’s costs for administration in this area. The issuing of 1-year licences would give the Council greater oversight and control over the licence, so that they could ensure that the premises stayed complaint with the conditions attached to their licence.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing explained that there were a number of existing pavement licences they're in place until the 30^th September under the temporary provisions, the premises licence holders would be written to from the 1^st October to see whether they wished to renew their licence.

The Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing stated that these provisions did not cover goods for sale they were specific to furniture being placed outside businesses on the pavement.

In response to questions from Members, the Head of Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Licensing informed the Committee that there were certain district centres where the pavements  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5/24

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