Agenda and draft minutes

Councillor Mercy Umeh proposed Councillor Patrick Walsh. This was seconded by Councillor Paul Alexander and agreed by the Committee.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Genevieve Nwaogbe,

Bora Kwon, Aliya Afzal-Khan, Zarar Qayyum, Jose Afonso and Dominic Stanton.

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.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 12 June 2023 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1972 and is not for publication.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

The OPEN minutes of the meeting held on 12 June 2023 were agreed as an accurate record.

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 2023/24 and Financial update on income and debt. Further topics included  2023 - 2024 Licensing Sub-Committees and an enforcement update for 2023/24.

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.

•       It was noted that the new structure no longer incorporated the Markets Team.

Staffing Update

The following staff changes were noted:

a)    Karen Layug had left her Team Leader position to start a new career abroad. Cristina Perez-Trillo had taken on this role.

b)    Recruitment for a second Licensing Enforcement Officer was currently underway.

c)     Sophia Barrett had started a new role as an Enforcement Officer.

d)    Abdul Ullah was the new Licensing Compliance Assistant. He started in July 2024.

The Team’s Performance and the Licensing Act in 2023/24

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

•       Overall, in 2023/24, the service dealt with a total of 1474 applications/notifications under the Licensing Act 2003 compared to 1382 in 2022/23. This was an increase of 6% from the previous year.

•       New premises licenses and full variations were similar to last year with 75 new applications.

•       In 2023/24 the service received 18 applications for provisional statements, compared to 0 in 2022/23. It should be noted that all of these applications were attributed to the redevelopment work at Olympia Exhibition Centre.  

•       An increase in personal licenses, transfers and minor variations.

•       A decrease in DPS variations, change of details.

•       In 2023/24 there was an increase of 11% of Temporary Event Notices (TENs) submitted compared to the previous year.

Licensing Sub-Committee Hearings in 2023/24

Lorna McKenna provided an overview on the number of hearings in 2023/24. The following points were noted:

•       7% increase in hearings compared to the previous year, with over 55% of cases granted in full or in part with amendments.

•       All the applications bar one was heard under the Licensing Act 2003, with one review and one sexual entertainment venue license being heard.

•       These figures do not include applications that the Licensing Team mediate on, which therefore no  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Local Government Act 1972 – Access To Information

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).