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City of York Council |
Committee Minutes |
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Meeting |
Licensing And Regulatory Committee |
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Date |
5 March 2025 |
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Present
In Attendance |
Councillors Melly (Chair), Cuthbertson (Vice-Chair), Baxter, Clarke, Hook, D Myers, Nicholls, Ravilious and Widdowson
Matt Boxall, Head of Public Protection Sandra Branigan, Senior Lawyer Lesley Cooke, Licensing Manager David Cowley, Taxi Licensing Manager
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Apologies |
Councillors Kilbane, Knight, Mason, Smalley, Warters And Wilson |
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Part B - Matters Referred to Council
87. Licensing Act 2003 - Cumulative Impact Assessment and Statement Of Licensing Policy (5.49pm)
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[See also under Part A]
In accordance with the requirements of Section 5 of the Licensing Act 2003 (the 2003 Act) Members considered a report that sought their support of the formal review of the council’s Statement of Licensing Policy. The report advised Members of the consultation undertaken and amendments made. In accordance with the requirements of Section 5A of the 2003 Act this report also sought Members support of the implementation of a Cumulative Impact Assessment in relation to part of the city centre and the report advised them of the consultation undertaken. The report also sought a recommendation to Council that the revised Policy and Cumulative Impact Assessment be adopted.
The Licensing Manager outlined the report noting the recommendation to approve Option 1 and recommend to Council that the revised Statement of Licensing Policy and Cumulative Impact Assessment, set out at Annex 1 and 2, be adopted. She noted the work of the working group to review the Statement of Licensing Policy (Policy) and the Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) and noted that both reviews were undertaken at the same time. She noted that premises licence applications were considered on their own merits. She explained that the red and amber zones had been taken out of the Cumulative Impact Zone (CIZ). She noted that consultation had been undertaken and five consultation responses had been received. She detailed the annexes and two options available to Members.
The Licensing Manager explained that paragraphs 12.5 and 12.6 and 14 needed to be removed from the draft Statement of Licensing Policy due to recent changes in legislation. She noted that the policy had been changed to enable Members to sit on the Sub-Committee for licensing applications in their own Ward. A Member thanked the working group for their work on the policy. In response to questions from Members, the Licensing Manager explained that: · Part of Piccadilly in the CIA had the highest level of anti social behaviour. · Regarding whether the waste section in the policy could be strengthened, the section on waste was a new section in the policy and it was not thought that a licence could be removed or given based on waste. She undertook to speak to the manager of the enforcement officers about waste. A Member commented that different councils, for example Westminster, had By Laws on waste. The Senior Lawyer advised that the policy could not bring in by laws. A Member noted they would like that section strengthening and the Licensing Manager noted that links to relevant legislation could be provided in that part of the policy after speaking to the manager of enforcement officers. A Member added that the section in the Westminster policy was similar to that of the council policy. · Paragraph 4.19 was a new addition to the policy and it was not possible to make premises have arrangements in place to get their staff home safely. · Paragraph 11.6 could be changed to remove gendered language to the replace pronouns with ‘them.’ · It was confirmed that hate crime was reported to the police. · The use of apps was included at paragraph 5.5. · Under section 4.19 an additional bullet point could be added regarding apps and QR codes, the wording of which could be agreed with the Chair and Vice Chair. The Chair noted that this was included at paragraph 5.23. · Regarding whether paragraph 5.23 could include a reference to ID on mobile phones, premises had a challenge 25 policy and they stipulated what forms of ID was acceptable.
The Committee had the following options available to them in making their decision:
Option 1 – Recommendation to Council that the draft Policy and CIA are adopted.
Option 2 – Recommendation to Council that the draft Policy and/or CIA is amended with alternative wording agreed by members.
Cllr Widdowson moved and Cllr Hook seconded Option 2 – that a recommendation be made to Council that the draft Policy and/or CIA is amended with alternative wording agreed by Members. The amendments to the policy were the deletion of paragraphs 12.5, 12.6 and 14, remove gendered language in paragraph 11.4 with him/her to be replace with them, the addition of the word reported in paragraph 14.19, the addition of QR codes in paragraph 5.23 and the wording of references to waste and food waste to be agreed by officers in conjunction to the Chair and Vice Chair. The Senior Lawyer asked the Licensing Officers to confirm whether further consultation was needed and the Licensing Manager confirmed that this was not necessary as there were minor changes to the wording in the policy. On being put to the vote it was unanimously;
Resolved: That it be recommended to Council that the draft Policy and/or CIA is amended with alternative wording agreed by members.
Reason: To meet the legislative requirements of the Licensing Act 2005.
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Cllr Melly, Chair
[The meeting started at 5.32 pm and finished at 6.25 pm].