Agenda and minutes

Licensing Committee - Tuesday 3rd February 2015 5.30 pm

Venue: Rennes Room, Civic Centre, Paris Street, Exeter

Contact: Howard Bassett, Democratic Services Manager (Committees) Telephone 01392 265107 or email howard.bassett@exeter.gov.uk

Items
No.	Item
1.	Minutes To sign the minutes of the meeting held on 22 July and 23 September 2014. Minutes: The minutes of the meetings held on 22 July and 23 September 2014 were taken as read and signed by the Chair as correct records.
2.	Declarations of Interest Councillors are reminded of the need to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests that relate to business on the agenda and which have not already been included in the register of interests, before any discussion takes place on the item. Unless the interest is sensitive, you must also disclose the nature of the interest. In accordance with the Council's Code of Conduct, you must then leave the room and must not participate in any further discussion of the item. Councillors requiring clarification should seek the advice of the Monitoring Officer prior to the day of the meeting. Minutes: No declarations of interest were made by Members.
3.	Policy of Restriction and Quality Standards for Hackney Carriages PDF 373 KB To consider the report of the Assistant Director Environment. Additional documents: Appendix H - Marketing Means Report , item 3. PDF 1 MB Taxi Photos , item 3. PDF 246 MB Minutes: The Assistant Director Environment had submitted a report on the findings of the consultation conducted with regard to the Council’s policy of restriction in respect of hackney carriages. A number of Members stated that, because of the size of the report and the significant amount of supporting documents, there had been insufficient time to properly consider all the issues and arguments for and against de-restriction. Councillor Newby moved and Councillor Choules seconded the deferral of the report for consideration at a Special Meeting of the Committee. The Corporate Manager Legal advised that in the event that the motion to defer did not succeed, those Members who had not had sufficient time to read the report and documentation could not vote on the matter. It was noted that two Members of the Committee had submitted their apologies. On the casting vote of the Chair, it was agreed to defer the report. RESOLVED that the report on a policy of restriction and quality standards for Hackney Carriages be deferred for consideration at a Special Meeting of this Committee.
4.	Responses to the consultation relating to the Licensing Act 2003 Statement of Licensing Policy PDF 136 KB To consider the report of the Assistant Director Environment. Additional documents: DRAFT LA03 policyv2 , item 4. PDF 851 KB SCHEDULE OF RESPONSES TO DRAFT LICENSING POLICY , item 4. PDF 110 KB CIZ Data , item 4. PDF 2 MB Minutes: The Assistant Director Environment presented the report advising that the Licensing Authority was required to publish a Statement of Licensing Policy (the Policy) in order to determine applications for the grant of new licenses and variations to existing licenses. The City Council’s current Statement of Licensing Policy had come into effect in January 2011 and it was a legal requirement to review such policy statements every five years. As the current policy had to be reviewed by 2016, a consultation had commenced in September 2014 and concluded on 12 December 2014. The responses to the consultation were set out in the report. The Policy document had been amended from the original draft to accommodate the responses received, all of which were set out in the report, together with the response of the Assistant Director Environment. Amendments to the sections on saturation and cumulative impact (Section 11) and Variable Closing Times (Section 12) were tabled. For clarity, the Assistant Director Environment advised that the Policy may be amended in the future to include the cumulative impact of late night hot food premises but only if additional evidence is submitted to the Licensing Committee by the Police. Therefore, for the time being, the current cumulative impact policy remained as it was, and applied to all premises selling alcohol for consumption on the premises within and abutting to the boundary of the zone as shown in Appendix F of the circulated report. The Policy would be considered by Executive on 17 March 2015 and by Council on 21 April 2015 for adoption. RESOLVED that the Committee support the Draft Statement of Licensing Policy and recommend its adoption by Council to take effect from 22 April 2015.