Agenda and draft minutes

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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 Liz Morris.

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 8 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 Noah Tucker declared that his wife was a market trader and could potentially be affected by decision around fees and charges. 

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

There were none.

i)             To confirm and sign the minutes of the Licensing Committee meeting held on 21 June 2021 as a correct record. Report to follow.

ii)            To note the Licensing Sub-Committee and Special Licensing Sub-Committee decisions from June 2021.

RESOLVED:

That indication be given that the minutes of the Licensing Committee meeting held on 21 June 2021 be confirmed and signed as a correct record of the proceedings.

In relation to the minutes of the Licensing Sub-Committees and Special Licensing Sub-Committees, Members noted the correction required on page 35 for Councillor Cawley-Harrison’s name.

Members also noted that no councillors had been listed in attendance on page 105 of the minutes.

The meeting enquired about the requirement for the bulk of the minutes of the Licensing Sub-Committee being submitted to the Licensing Committee for noting. The meeting heard that the minutes of the Licensing Sub-Committee and Special Licensing Sub-Committee were submitted to the Licensing Committee for the Committee to note the decisions made and to note consistencies and points of interest.

Some Members suggested that it would be more useful to have a table of decisions or a year end summary be submitted to the Committee rather than a collection of minutes, although some other Members felt that a collection of minutes that could be referred to easily was useful.

A suggestion was made that a tabled document be submitted to the Committee outlining licenses granted, granted with conditions and amendments, licences reviewed and the outcomes of the hearings be submitted to the Committee to allow the Committee to make comparisons regarding decisions made at Licensing Sub-Committees.

The meeting agreed that a further report be brought forward to the Licensing Committee outlining a breakdown of the outcomes at Licensing Sub-Committees and Special Licensing Sub-Committees.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the Licensing Sub-Committee and the Special Licensing Sub-Committee be noted.

To consider the review of the fees and charges for 2022/23.

Ms Daliah Barret, Licensing Team Leader presented the report.

In response to questions, the Committee heard that:

·              On page 169 of the agenda papers, the figure referring to page £976 referred to the exhibitions fees and related to Alexandra Palace only.

·              Page 175 of the agenda papers referring to a weekly cost of £15 in the ‘Tables and Chairs’ column referred to £15 per square metre.

·              With the introduction of the pavement licence, there was not yet a figure available regarding the net impact on the finances in the last two years but this would be collated and circulated to the Committee.

·              If the Council made a profit on street trading in one year, the street trading fees would have be reduced the next year. Similarly, if a loss was made in one year, then fees would have to increase accordingly for the next year. 

The Committee heard that the vast majority of street traders were food orientated, many of whom were fruit and vegetable sellers and had been able to operate through the coronavirus crisis as they were food orientated businesses. One flower seller who had stopped trading and had not been billed during the lockdown period. Similarly, for the massage and special treatment businesses in the month of September, had to renew their licenses. The Council was offsetting the months in which they were not trading so the Council could balance out the financial costs fairly. 

The Committee also heard that the government may bring in the pavement licences on a full-time basis. Through the LGA and Pan London Licensing group were not in favour of the proposal.  The previous legislation was still active and the borough only had one trader who had opted to use the regulations under the previous legislation as this allowed them to have customers who could smoke in the outside area. However, the majority of businesses were using pavement licences.

RESOLVED:

That indication be given that the Licensing Committee approve the fees for the municipal year of 2022/23. 

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

There were none.