Agenda item

Licensing Team Responsibilities

Minutes:

Tom Clark, Head of Regulatory Services introduced the report which gave an overview of the work of the Licensing Team.  He noted that their remit was more than taxi and alcohol licensing.  The work completed by the team was dependent on the work that comes in.  Last year there was more taxi licensing work which included drivers of disabled taxis appearing before Sub Committee and there will be at least one alcohol licensing panel shortly. He noted that new Animal Welfare Policy will be at Committee in September.  Paul Thornton, Senior Licensing Officer presented each section of the report.

 

Animal Welfare

He informed Committee about the history of the Animal Welfare Policy and legislation dating back to 1925.  A recent comprehensive update by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs provided detailed guidance notes for local authorities and licensees.   He confirmed it had created a lot of work but all licenses were issued on time.  The maximum licence is 3 years with a compulsory inspection for all applications and the legislation states that the Council must charge fees on a cost recovery basis.  The fees are calculated on the time it takes to process an application, including the time to inspect the premises and includes any appeal or re-inspection.  The highest star rating for new applications is two stars. The Committee were advised that new legislation was due in April 2020 to stop the puppy farming. In future the public will have to buy from registered breeders or rescue centres.

 

The Senior Licensing Officer clarified that the license is held by a person at a specific address.  He noted the team receive many enquiries about dog walkers but there is no provision for dog walkers to have a licence. Exotic animals are covered by the Dangerous Wild Animals Act and no licences have been issued in Mid Sussex. He confirmed that once close to expiry all licensees must reapply to renew their licence. The new policy encourages businesses to be compliant.  For inspections involving horses the officers must be accompanied by a vet and the vet charges the applicant separately.  The same process applies for dog breeder licences.

 

Taxi Licensing

Tom Clark, Head of Regulatory Services confirmed that by 2022 all Hackney carriage licensed vehicles will be white so the public can identify them easily.  It is also a safety measure and makes the fleet look more professional.

 

Alcohol Licensing

A Member asked whether the Liquor Panel would be more likely to approve an application if representations have been made.  The Senior Licensing Officer noted that under the law it is presumed the licence will be granted unless there is satisfactory information to refuse it but this is only for alcohol licenses.  The representations, a 28 day consultation process, consultation of statutory bodies, advert at the application site and a public notice in a newspaper are all part of the legislation. The Police do comment and may want conditions. If the representations are agreed by all parties there is no need to have a panel as the officers have delegated authority.  The representations must concern one of the four licensing objectives. The panel of 3 Members is then arranged and the panel must be held no more than 20 working days after the consultation ends. The panel decides the likelihood of an impact on the licensing objectives in granting the licence. He noted that if the application is in a Member’s town they do not sit on the panel.

 

The Cabinet Member for Community asked how the team assess how to prevent a public nuisance.  The Licensing Officer confirmed that it was a matter of trusting that the applicant would comply with the law and conditions and the applicant needs to reassure the committee that the issuing of the licence would not annoy the neighbours. The Environmental Health Noise team ask the applicant to write a noise management plan which should include measures to mitigate any noise and a face to face meeting also takes place. The Noise team can monitor premises and review licenses.

 

The Head of Regulatory Services noted the difference between planning and licensing.  With licences the Council take more of a risk, because the licensee can be instructed to return to the Committee and the Committee can revoke or add conditions to a licence.

 

In response to a Member’s question the Licensing Officer confirmed that MSDC procedure is that all parties to a hearing receive equal air time. The objet of the hearing is that the Licensing Committee obtain as much information as possible to make an informed decision within the guidelines of the legislation.  The applicant and objector(s) have a chance to make their views known and most people at the panel respect the procedure. The cross examination should not be adversarial and the committee can ask questions to find out how conditions would be met. The officer noted that the committee should not predetermine during the questioning.  The Head of Regulatory Services advised the committee not to get involved with privately researching an application if they are asked to sit on the panel and to only use the material provided by the Council to make the decision.

 

Gambling

The Licensing Officer noted that the Gambling Act 2005 copied procedures from the Licensing Act and activities are heavily regulated. He confirmed that licensed premises can have two machines, if they want more then they must apply to the council.  Wetherspoon’s in East Grinstead have five machines  The licensee must provide a plan to show how they will supervise the public as Under 18s should not use the machines. . The Gambling Policy is  reviewed every three years.

 

Scrap Metal

The Licensing Officer gave a brief history which included previous problems of cable theft from railway tracks.  He noted the difference between a site and collectors licence and the difficulty of licensees paying supplier of scrap metal by BACS or cheque, keeping records of the type of scrap bought and the identity of the supplier.  He advised that the legislation has been reviewed, some issues have been highlighted but the restrictions have not changed. 

 

Street Trading

The Licensing Officer detailed the 16 streets in the district where Street Trading is prohibited or requires consent or a licence.  The list of streets was adopted in 2000. He stated that revising the list of streets could be part of a strategy and would involve a lot of work but should not be a deterrent to undertake the work. The revised list of streets would need to be advertised.  He noted an issue with street traders in Burgess Hill which was being monitored.

 

Licenced Streets:

East Grinstead - Railway Approach

 

Prohibited Streets:

Burgess Hill - Civic Way, London Road and Queen Elizabeth Avenue

East Grinstead – Station Road

Haywards Heath – Wivelsfield Road

Poynings – Land to the North and East of the Devils Dyke Inn, Dyke Road

Other – Lay-by on the A264 Copthorne Way, Copthorne, running West to East

 

Consent Streets:

Burgess Hill - Church Road, Church Walk, Keymer Road and Station Road

East Grinstead - Christopher Road, High Street, Little King Street and London Road

Haywards Heath - Commercial Square, Keymer Road, South Road, Station Road, Sussex Road and The Broadway

Other – Lay-by on the A264 Copthorne Way, Copthorne, running East to West

 

He confirmed the selling of second hand cars on the highway was dealt with under the Clean Neighbourhood and Environment Act 2005.  It is an offence to advertise for sale cars on the highway if they are less than 500m from each other.  It can be hard to prove who is selling them.

 

The Head of Regulatory Services reminded the Licensing Committee that Scrutiny Committees develop policies. 

 

Charitable Collections

The Licensing Officer confirmed that cash collections on the streets need a licence but there is no fee.  The team check the applicant is a registered charity and they must complete a return.  The team keep a diary and limit collections on roads in the same day. Direct Debit collections i.e. Oxfam are not licensable as they don’t collect cash.  

 

House to House

The Licensing Officer noted the increased requests for charity bag house to house collections as it is a profitable business, currently £650 a tonne.  The company offers to collect on behalf of a charity and gives them a set donation. There is no application fee and the procedure is to limit companies collecting to one week a month and they must provide the postcodes / streets where they are operating.  This ensures equal opportunities for charities. The charities only get a small proportion of the money raised from collections.

 

Caravan and Camp Sites

The Licensing Officer confirmed there are no fees for camp sites and the rules cover public safety, clean water, waste disposal and space between the units. The Mobile Homes Act 2015 protects people living in rented caravans.

 

The Officer confirmed people can camp for 28 days a year without a licence and there is no fee with simple site rules for public safety.

 

The Chairman thanked the officers for the report. He noted no more Members wished to speak so moved the Committee to the recommendation to note the report which was agreed unanimously.

 

RESOLVED

 

The Committee noted the contents of the report.

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