Agenda and draft minutes

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 30 January 2024.

The minutes of the meeting held on 30 January 2024 were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chair as correct.

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.

No declarations of interest were made by Members.

To consider the report of the Service Lead - Environmental Health & Community Safety.

The Service Lead - Environmental Health and Community Safety presented the report which detailed a review of the Street Trading Policy, and a request for Members’ approval to publish a draft for public consultation, before being considered for adoption by the Licensing Committee and Council. The report included the findings of the Street Trading working group made up of Members of the Licensing Committee, with contributions from expert witnesses and the Council’s Licensing Officers.

There had been no changes in the legislation since the Policy was last approved in 2015, and so the deliberations of the working group had been very welcome and had resulted in a strengthening of ten areas of the Policy, which were set out in the report. It was anticipated that a further meeting of the working group would be held after the ten week consultation period had closed to consider the responses as well a possible redesign of the street trading application form.

Councillor Warwick, as Chair of the Working Group had welcomed the opportunity to review the Policy and encouraged Members to comment on the circulated draft as part of the consultation. He thanked the Service Lead - Environmental Health and Community Safety and the Licensing team for their hard work in researching and drawing on best practice from other local authorities across the country.  

Following discussion, Members proposed the following minor amendments to the draft Policy, which also reflected comments made at the working group and was agreed would be included in the draft document before publishing for consultation:-

Paragraph 6.5.2  - to read ‘street trading consent will not be permitted if powered by a diesel or petrol generator ‘

Paragraph 6.5.3 – to be deleted.

Paragraph 15.5.2 – to read ‘that no person under the age of 16 years shall engage or be employed in street trading, and those that under the age of 18 years shall be supervised at all times by an adult over the age of 18 years’.

Insert new Paragraph 15.9.3 – to read ‘all street traders will be required to have arrangements in place for recycling and dealing with refuse. This will be required to be evidenced through their trade waste transfer note’.

To renumber the remaining paragraphs in Section 15.9.

Members also made particular reference to:-

·       the aspirations of meeting the Council’s net zero targets

·       the avoidance where possible of single use plastics 

·       the list of licensed parks and open spaces as set out in the report was only indicative and further discussion with the Parks and Open Spaces team would be held.

A copy of the revised draft Policy for consultation would be attached to the minutes.

RESOLVED that the Licensing Committee agree to a consultation of the revised Street Trading Policy to run from 22 March 2024 until 31 May 2024.

The Chair requested an addendum to the minutes to note that the Councillor Steve Warwick would not be standing again for the Council in the forthcoming Elections. She expressed her thanks to him for being a supportive Deputy Chair of the Licensing Committee and wished him all the best in retirement from being a Councillor.