Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bora Kwon and

Aliya Afzal-Khan.

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.

This item includes appendices 2 and 3 which contain information

exempt within the meaning of Schedule 12A to the Local

Government Act 1972 and is not for publication. The appendices

have 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 to the Committee.

He explained the presentation would cover a range of topics, including: Staffing Update, Licensing Team performance and work activity in 2022/23 and Financial update on income and debt. Further topics included  2022 - 2023 Licensing Sub-Committees and an enforcement update for 2022/23.

Adrian Overton provided an overview of the Licensing Activities which the Department oversaw and then provided details of the new structure and the Licensing Department’s move to Planning.

Move to Planning and New Structure

The Committee noted that Licensing had moved from the Environment Department to Planning (under the Economy Department). Adrian Overton explained the rationale for the move, which was to:

•       Develop more cohesive strategies for delivering increased economic activity in H&F.

•       Allow staff from across the Planning and Licensing disciplines to share practice and align more closely on proposals for new developments.

•       Allow the function of licensing to be viewed through an economic lens rather than a purely regulatory one.

Staffing Update

The following staff changes were noted:

a)    Lorna Mckenna was temporarily filling the Licensing Compliance officer role as maternity cover.

b)    Recruitment for a second Licensing Enforcement Officer – James Dismore.

c)    Sophia Barrett had started a Regulatory Compliance Officer Apprenticeship.

d)    Formal Environment divisional reorganization was implemented in early 2023 with confirmed a permanent role for a Licensing Policy and Administration Team Leader.

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.

The Team’s Performance in 2022/23

Karen Layug, Licensing Administration Team Leader, drew the Committee’s attention to some of the key statistics in relation to the work from the previous year. Key points included:

·       11% increase in applications compared to 2021/22.

·       27% increase in Temporary Event Notices (TENs) compared to 2021/22.

·       New Personal Licence applications increased from 127 (in 2021/2) to 144 (2022/23).

·       Premises Licence application with a full variation from 20 (in 2021/2) to 31(2022/23).

·       Total number of applications processes by the Team increased from 1240 (in 2021/2)  to 1382 (2022/23).

• In 2022/23, 43 licensing sub-committee meetings took place, compared to 31 in 2021/22

Financial Management

In terms of the Financial Management for the period, Karen Layug, Licensing Administration Team Leader explained that income generated from licensing activities during 2022/23 was £320,466, which was a decrease of £60,740 (43%) compared to 2021/22 (£381,206) which was due to a reduction in the income stemming from application fees.

It was noted that there had been a small increase in the total number of applications received in 2022/23, , the application fees under the Licensing Act were set  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

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)