To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 21 July 2021.

Councillor Morton referred to the section in the Minutes in respect of lack of security staff under Minute No. 34/21 and asked if there had been any issues.  Members were informed that there was still a shortage but as yet no problems had been reported.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 21 July 2021 were agreed as a correct record.

To receive apologies for absence.

None received.

To note whether the Chairman proposes to accept any item as urgent business, pursuant to Section 100(B)(4)(b) of the Local Government Act, 1972.

None.

The duties to register, disclose and not to participate for the entire consideration of the matter, in respect of any matter in which a Member has a disclosable pecuniary interest are set out in Chapter 7 of the Localism Act 2011.  Members are also required to withdraw from the meeting room as stated in the Standing Orders of this Council.

None declared.

To note the names of any non-members who wish to address the meeting.

Councillor Bambridge, the Executive Member for Waste & Environment and the Portfolio Holder for Licensing was in attendance.

To receive an update.

Josie Hoven, the Licensing Team Leader provided members with an update on the work that the Licensing had been doing since the last meeting in July.

The Members who attended the previous meeting had met with Alan Goodall, the Animal Welfare Licensing Officer and an update was provided on the work that he had been carrying out. The first in-person meeting was held on 21 September 2021 which was a Norfolk and Suffolk Animal Welfare Licensing Officers meeting. 

This meeting was supported by Sam Chapman-Allen, the Leader of the Council who gave a very supportive speech and was attended by the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Licensing Committee.  The meeting had been very well attended by both Norfolk and Suffolk Animal Welfare Licensing officers with presentations from the Chapelfield Veterinary Partnership, Norfolk Police Rural Crime Officers and the RSPCA. 

The afternoon session was mainly a discussion about how to remove advertisements from unlicensed breeders and the next meeting was scheduled to be held in December 2021.

The Animal Welfare Licensing Officer continued to investigate unlicensed breeders and the complaints received.  He had been providing advice and had issued a number of warnings and had issued new licences to five new breeders and had managed to put a stop to a number of illegal advertisements and trading.  He had also recently completed an Animal Inspectors Course and the final certificate was awaited.

In respect of the Licensing Act, there had been a continual increase in Temporary Event Notices, which was encouraging as this highlighted the fact that people were now getting on with their lives including private weddings, village fetes and many forthcoming Christmas events. 

The Licensing Officers had visited two new licensed events to check compliance with their licence conditions during the summer months. These included a glamping event and the Maui Waui festival, held in Dereham.  A follow up meeting was held so that the Safety Advisory Group could discuss some of the minor complaints received with the organisers.   Confirmation had since been received from the organiser of the Maui Waui festival that they would be returning to the Breckland district again in the summer 2022. Subsequently, a new web page had been created on the Licensing section of the website that showed larger scale events that the Licensing Team had been made aware of.

The Team continued to work with a number of other departments within the Council in respect of complex cases but not all were found to be in breach of their licensing conditions.   

The Government had increased the limits on Temporary Events Notices (TENS) from 15 to 20 Notices per year and from 21 to 26 days for the years 2022 and 2023.

The 7-week consultation on the new Taxi Policy was started by offering six sessions to the trade to go through the changes in the Policy; however, the attendance had been quite low, but the Team was satisfied that most drivers would have been informed of these changes via word of mouth.  Applications  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43/21

General discussion.

The Chairman announced that many Members would have heard that James Button, a Solicitor an expert in Licensing training and legal advice, would be Breckland Council’s licensing training advisor in future.  For the long-standing Committee Members who attended the last training session in Kings Lynn Mr Button was an excellent trainer and those Members who were new to the Committee were encouraged to attend any forthcoming training sessions for the experience and to prepare them to sit on Panel meetings.  All being well, face to face training sessions would commence in January 2022.

The Licensing Team Leader advised that the training would be held over two half day sessions.  One day would be on the Licensing Act and the other on taxi licensing and would be about what Members needed to take into account as Licensing Committee Members as well as gaining a sound indication of the legislation.     

It was agreed that one full day of training would be preferred with lunch provided to save on travel. A date would be confirmed in due course.

To receive an update.

Councillor Kiddell, the Vice-Chairman had sat on two Panel meetings that went very well and was very informative.  She assured Members that these meetings were attended by an Officer from the Legal Team and encouraged those Members who had not had the opportunity to attend any of these Panel meetings to come along and observe.

Councillor Morton and Councillor Ashby concurred with the above comments.

The Chairman explained the process and that the decisions were made in private session.

Report of Environmental Health and Licensing Manager – Craig Fowler.

The Licensing Team Leader provided Members with a detailed overview of the report.

Members were being asked to consider the Council’s revised Gambling Policy (Statement of Principles) following the consultation that had been held from July to September 2021 and recommend the final approved Policy to Full Council for adoption.

The Chairman drew Members’ attention to page 17 of the agenda pack that listed the number of gambling authorisations granted by Breckland Council.

Councillor Bambridge, the Portfolio Holder for Licensing felt that sensible amendments had been made to the Policy and was in full support of the Policy going forward.

The Chairman and Vice-Chairman thanked the Licensing Team Leader for this enormous piece of work.

Councillor Dowling asked how children were protected in pubs and restaurants who had such gambling machines.  Members were informed that the licence came with conditions, and it was the responsibility of the manager of those premises to ensure that under 18s were not using the machines.

Councillor Bambridge stated that he had spent 2 days with one of the larger gambling organisations and he had been pleased with the policing and management of such matters.

The Chairman encouraged all Members to report any concerns to the Licensing Team.

RESOLVED to RECOMMEND to Council that the final approved Gambling Policy (Statement of Principles) be adopted.

To note the arrangements for the next meeting on Wednesday, 12 January 2022 immediately following the Licensing Committee meeting which is being held at 10am in the Anglia Room, the Conference Suite, Dereham.

The arrangements for the next meeting on Wednesday, 12 January 2022 at 10am in the Anglia Room were noted.