Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Mughal, Bloch, Demirci, Vanier.

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 at Item 8 below).

Councillors Peacock, Patel and Reid were asked to consider a set of minutes from the Licensing Sub-Committee A on 8 August 2006 which have been requested by the Magistrates Court for an appeal against a decision of that Sub-Committee on which the three Members sat. The Chair agreed to consider this at Item 8 of the Agenda.

A member with a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the Authority at which the matter is considered must disclose to that meeting the existence and nature of that interest at the commencement of that consideration, or when the interest becomes apparent.

A member with a personal interest in a matter also has a prejudicial interest in that matter if the interest is one which a member of the public with knowledge of the relevant facts would reasonably regard as so significant that it is likely to prejudice the member’s judgement of the public interest.

No declarations of personal or prejudicial interests were declared.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting of the Licensing Committee held on 5 September 2006 (attached).

RESOLVED:

That the Committee approved the minutes of the previous meetings of the Licensing Committee held on 05 September 2006 and that the Chair sign them.

Report of the Principal Committee Co-ordinator (attached).

The Committee Clerk, Nicolas Mattis, informed the Committee that due to a joint request made by Councillors Dobbie and Lister to swap their membership on their respective sub-committees as agreed by Full Council on 22 May 2006, Councillor Lister would now be a member of Licensing Sub-Committee B, and Councillor Dobbie on Licensing Sub-Committee C.

               There were no other changes to the membership of the Licensing Committee and its sub-committees.

               RESOLVED:

               That members agreed to the change in members, so that the new compliment of sub-committee memberships was as follows:

                        Sub-Committee A:

Cllr Demirci - Bounds Green                                                                      

Cllr Patel (Chair) – Woodside        

Cllr Vanier – Tottenham Green                               

Sub-Committee B:

Cllr Mughal – Noel Park                              

Cllr Peacock (Chair) – Northumberland Park

Cllr Lister – Tottenham Green        

Sub-Committee C:

Cllr Beacham (Chair) – Alexandra             

Cllr Reid – Hornsey              

Cllr Dobbie – Noel Park                              

Unassigned:

Cllr Bloch – Muswell Hill

Report of the Head of Legal Services (attached).

The Committee was given background information about the report of the Monitoring Officer, presented by Terence Mitchison. He touched on the outcome of the consultation about the relationship between decisions under the Licensing Act 2003 and Town Planning Controls and recommended that the Committee agreed to amendments to the Statement of Licensing Policy to reflect this.

                   RESOLVED:

That the Committee agree to the recommendations as set out in the Monitoring Officer’s Report, namely:

(i)                 That Members note the outcome of the stakeholder consultation described in paragraphs 9.1 to 9.4 of the Report

(ii)               That Members approve the proposed amendments to paragraphs 8.1 and 8.2 of the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy.

(iii)             That Members request the General Purposes Committee to recommend to the full Council, the adoption of the amendments.

An update on Licensing Service issues and resolutions (attached).

The Lead Licensing Officer, Daliah Barrett, informed the Committee of the resolutions that had been made by the sub-committee over the previous period (since May 2006). She also gave details of the resolutions that had subsequently been appealed against and where making their way through the courts. Ms Barrett advised Committee Members of the importance of giving explicit reasons for their resolutions, particularly where they cut back on what is being applied for, or they outline that certain action needs to be taken by the licensee before the granted license can take affect.

               Ms Barrett informed the Committee of the developments around the Gambling Act 2005, stating that the draft statement of gambling policy for the Authority was going through its consultative stages. The functionality of the statement will come to this Committee. There will be three Gambling objectives to contend with and Members will receive training as necessary. The Committee discussed the issues of fees which would be set by the Secretary of State. The Committee discussed some of the likely technicalities of the Act.

               RESOLVED:

               That the Committee notes the Lead Licensing Officer’s Report.

To consider any new items admitted under item 2 above.

Councillors Peacock, Reid and Patel, having read the set of minutes from the 8 August 2006, agreed to them as an accurate record of the proceedings, and Councillor Peacock signed in her capacity of Chair of that hearing.