Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Wesley Harcourt and Zarar Qayyum.

If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a particular item, whether or not it is entered in the Authority’s register of interests, or any other significant interest which they consider should be declared in the public interest, they should declare the existence and, unless it is a sensitive interest as defined in the Member Code of Conduct, the nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of that item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

At meetings where members of the public are allowed to be in attendance and speak, any Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest or other significant interest may also make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter. The Councillor must then withdraw immediately from the meeting before the matter is discussed and any vote taken.

Where Members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance and speak, then the Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration. Councillors who have declared other significant interests should also withdraw from the meeting if they consider their continued participation in the matter would not be reasonable in the circumstances and may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest.

Councillors are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Standards Committee.

Present: Councillors Mercy Umeh (Chair), Paul Alexander (Vice-Chair), Asif Siddique, David Morton, Bora Kwon, Florian Chevoppe-Verdier, Patrick Walsh, Jose Afonso, Aliya Afzal-Khan and Dominic Stanton

There were no declarations of interest.

Officers: Adrian Overton, Licensing Policy & Enforcement Manager, Valerie Simpson, Strategic Lead for Environmental Health and Regulatory Services, Maria Dimitriou, Licensing Officer, Jane Astbury, Interim Chief Solicitor Planning and Property and Charles Francis, Committee Coordinator.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 26 October 2021.

This item includes an appendix which contains information exempt within the meaning of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 and is not for publication. The appendix has been circulated to the Committee members only.

Any discussion on the contents of an exempt appendix will require the Committee to pass the proposed resolution at the end of the agenda to exclude members of the public and press from the proceedings for that discussion.

The OPEN minutes of the meeting held on 26 October 2021 were agreed as an accurate record.

This item includes an appendix which contains information exempt within the meaning of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 and is not for publication. The appendix has been circulated to the Committee members only.

Any discussion on the contents of an exempt appendix will require the Committee to pass the proposed resolution at the end of the agenda to exclude members of the public and press from the proceedings for that discussion.

Adrian Overton, Licensing Policy & Enforcement Manager, introduced the members of the Licensing Team and the Legal Advisor to the Committee.

He explained his role and responsibilities comprised of three key areas. These included: the administration and issuing of licences (including sub-committees), the enforcement of approximately 1,000 licences across the borough and from April 2021,overseeing the markets and street licensing function.

He explained the presentation would cover a range of topics, including a staffing update, the Licensing Team’s performance and work activity 2021-22, a financial update (on income and debt) and a break-down of the 2021 licensing sub-committee applications. Further aspects included the licensing policies currently in effect and the committee comments on the draft licensing policy for 2022.

Adrian Overton provided an overview of the Licensing Activities which the Department oversaw and then provided a staffing update.

Staffing Update

Adrian Overton explained there had been a number of staffing changes in the previous year and one of the most significant was Lisa White, the Licensing Administration and Enforcement Manager who left in January 2022 after 15 years’ service. It was noted that Lisa’s post had not been replaced on a like for like basis which had allowed a new structure to be introduced. Karen Layug was now the Licensing Administration Team Leader. Changes included:

·       Markets and street functions were transferred to the Licensing Team.

·       Only one support officer in post as Markets Manager retired in 2021.

·       Recruitment: Team Leader seconded from the LET. Officer successful at interview for permanent recruitment.

·       NGDP placement for 6 months

·       Currently need an additional Licensing Enforcement Officer.

·       Currently need an Apprentice to support markets.

·       Formal divisional reorganisation pending to help with resilience and succession planning.

Markets and Street Trading

Adrian Overton provided an overview of the service which included the monitoring, regulation, and enforcement of 119 pitches across the borough including North End Road, Lyric square and Wood Lane. As well as, Match Day Football pitches around the 3 main clubs and other miscellaneous sites.

Details were provided on the North End Regeneration project, day to day duties and also the regular site inspections which were necessary. It was noted that a new Markets Policy would be developed during 2022.

The Team’s Performance in 2021/22

Maria Dimitriou, Licensing Officer, drew the Committee’s attention to some of the key statistics in relation to the work from the previous year. Key points included:

·       2021/22 – dealt with 1,240 applications, compared to 756 in 2020/21 – a 64% increase.

·       The highest area of increase was in Temporary Events Notices (TENs) where 315 more were received than in 2020/21. In terms of the Gambling Act, the number of adult gaming centres had increased from 3 to 4 in 2021/22 (overall there were 31 gambling premises in the borough.

·       In 2021/22, 31 licensing sub-committee meetings took place, compared to 19 in 2020/21 which was an increase of 41%.

Financial Management

In terms of the Financial Management for the period 2021/22, Adrian Overton explained that Application Fee income had increased from  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Proposed resolution:

Under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, that the public and press be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business, on the grounds that they contain the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the said Act, as it contains information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

The sub-committee agreed, under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, that the public and press be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business, on the grounds that they contain the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the said Act, as it contains information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).