Agenda and draft minutes

Please note this meeting may be filmed or recorded by the Council for live or subsequent broadcast via the Council’s internet site or by anyone attending the meeting using any communication method.  Members of the public participating in the meeting (e.g. making deputations, asking questions, making oral protests) should be aware that they are likely to be filmed, recorded or reported on.  By entering the ‘meeting room’, you are consenting to being filmed and to the possible use of those images and sound recordings.

The Chair of the meeting has the discretion to terminate or suspend filming or recording, if in his or her opinion continuation of the filming, recording or reporting would disrupt or prejudice the proceedings, infringe the rights of any individual, or may lead to the breach of a legal obligation by the Council.

The Chair referred to the filming of meetings and this information was noted.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence was received from Councillor Makbule Gunes, Councillor Reg Rice and Councillor Nicola Bartlett.

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of Urgent Business. (Late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items will be dealt with under item 9 below).

There was no urgent business.

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a prejudicial interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered:

(i) must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent, and

(ii) may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must withdraw from the meeting room.

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Register of Members’ Interests or the subject of a pending notification must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal interests and prejudicial interests are defined at Paragraphs 5-7 and Appendix A of the Members’ Code of Conduct

Councillor Nick da Costa stated that he was a Trustee of Alexandra Palace and Chair of Alexandra Palace Trading Limited.

To consider any requests received in accordance with Part 4, Section B, paragraph 29 of the Council’s constitution.

There were none.

To confirm and agree the minutes of the Licensing Committee meeting held on 6 January 2025.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the Licensing Sub-Committee held on 6 January 2025 be confirmed and signed as a correct record of proceedings. 

The current statement Licensing Policy is due for review and to be Published by Jan 2026. This report seeks permission to consult on a revised statement.

Ms Daliah Barrett, Licensing Team Leader, introduced the report.

The meeting heard that:

·         Fast food outlets would not usually be subject to much licensing regulation unless they proposed to operate after 23:00 and offered hot food and hot drink. A licence would then be required and the business may step into the realm of delivery operations whereby considerations would be made regarding prevention of public nuisance. The Public Health department had worked with the Commercial Environmental Health team to do some work with businesses around how food was cooked and prepared.

·         Vapes were not usually subject to licensing processes. However, Trading Standards dealt with the enforcement issues regarding vapes. There was expected to be new legislation regarding tobacco. If a licensed premises were found to be selling vapes to underage individuals or stocking illicit vapes or illicit tobacco, then Trading Standards may submit a review under the Licensing Act. 

·         In relation to the Government’s expected new proposals on licensing regulation, it was likely a new Statement of Licensing Policy would need to be completed. The work around the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 may impact on Safety Advisory Groups and possibly other areas of licensing.

·         Licensing Sub-Committees could consider the cumulative impact of licensed premises in a given location in relation to considering a licensing application. Police and Public Health would like to have certain areas of the borough defined as a saturated area. This would make the area subject to a presumption of a refusal of a premises licence. However, the Sub-Committee would still make a determination of an application based on the evidence before them.

·         Vaping at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium inside the club rooms and the buildings would definitively not be allowed as those areas were enclosed. However, it was notable that the stadium area itself had no specific roof. The football club would be consulted with regarding the issue.

·         The circular letter would be sent to representatives of residents. This would be done via the consultation team who would send out the links to all the residents associations that the Council had listed. The economic development team would also share the consultation link with the various trader’s associations. Residents that had been in contact with the Council tended to get copied in as well.

·         The consultation was a borough-wide consultation. In the past, the Communications team would always include a line that stated if a document needed to be seen in another language, a contact detail would be provided for this. The issue would be explored further with the consultation team.

·         Schools and colleges in the borough would be made subject to the consultation. It was already sent to Children’s Services and would be subject to their team meetings.

·         In the past, discursive events would be held with licence holders, but these had become limited due to budget constraints. The hiring of the space incurred a cost. Work had been done with the Police regarding Ask for Angela, but the Police had allocated a budget  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Committee is being asked to approve the fees and charges for 2025 – 26.

The report also sets out the updated processing functions and revised Standard Conditions that will be applied to each licence. This report hasbeen preparedto providethe LicensingCommittee with information and an update on the reform of the Massage and Special Treatment licensing function.

Ms Daliah Barrett, Licensing Team Leader, introduced the report.

The meeting heard that:

·         Ear piercings (or similar activities) carried out by jewellers needed to be licensed. The ASB Enforcement team had been asked to carry out door-to-door research on premises that did piercings. Fees would be paid by business owners. There were situations where a person would rent a room, such as at a hairdresser, who would then offer massages or special treatments. That individual will pay their own fee.

·         The business owner would fill out the form and provide certificates and details of each therapist. The Environmental Health Officer would then check to ensure that the ventilation in the premises was good and that the certificates corresponded with the right people. The fee was to be paid at the time when the application was submitted.

·         The classification of treatments listed in the agenda papers were simply a partial list. The more intrusive treatments such as anything that pierced the skin would be categorised as Class 1 and lower levels of treatment such as nails would be categorised as Class 4. However, some of the classifications appeared to have inconsistencies, so the documents would be revised.

·         During a renewal, applicants needed to show their public liability insurance. One document that may not be required for three or four years was the general electricity certification - the NICEIC. This would last five years and would not be needed upon renewal every year.  The table in the agenda papers would be changed to reflect this around the process for renewing.

·         In relation to officers recognising modern slavery, when operations were being done throughout the year, the Commercial Environmental Health team would be contacted and would work in unison with the Police. On a monthly basis, the Home Office would contact the Council to alert which businesses they wished to visit. They would be provided with documents for the business and they would then carry out visits. Looking for modern day slavery was one of the primary purposes of the visits. Sometimes they would be accompanied by Police.

·         Commercial Environmental Health Officers that made the visits were trained in looking for modern day slavery.

·         Class 2 osteopathy and chiropractors were both not subject to fees, but there were certain types of therapists that had a standard qualification to offer certain treatments.

·         Page 122 on appendix 2 of the agenda papers listed the incorrect maximum basic applicant’s fee and this would be changed. 

·         If businesses were closing down, they would apply for a refund.

·         The retention sum of £285 as stated on page 122 of the agenda papers would be for each application.

·         In relation to beauty parlours, if there was an issue with the licence, concerns could be raised with the Licensing team. However, investigations would be done by Commercial Environmental Health Officers. It was better for Licensing to be contacted as the team needed to engage with the business in the first instance. It would then be referred to the Commercial Environmental  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To consider any items of urgent business as identified at item 3.

There were none.