It was proposed and seconded that Councillor RC Hunt be appointed Vice-Chairman for the ensuing year.

RESOLVED THAT:

Councillor RC Hunt be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing year.

A report was presented by the Licensing Officer about minor amendments to the  Council’s licensing policy in respect of its functions carried out under the Licensing Act 2003.  Section 5 of the Act required each licencing authority to determine, every three years, its policy for the exercise of its licensing functions. The Council’s policy had been reviewed on 1st February 2011 and would remain in force until February 2014.  Section 5(4) of the Act stated that during each three year period, a licensing authority must keep its policy under review and make any revisions to it that were considered necessary.  Prior to making any changes consultation should take place with the chief officer of police and the fire authority for the area and such persons considered to be representative of those involved in the licencing trade.

The Licensing Officer presented revised conditions to be attached to licences which reflected guidance from the Secretary of State which stipulated that conditions should be: -

·         necessary for the promotion of the licensing objectives

·         enforceable

·         unequivocal/unambiguous

·         proportionate and

·         did not duplicate other statutory provisions

A pool of model conditions had been prepared to assist applicants when making applications and the consultation process underway.  The Licensing Officer asked the Committee to consider the matter with a view to agreeing the implementation of the new conditions by the Regulatory Services Manager, subject to their being no adverse comments arising from the consultation process.

Having carefully considered the proposals, the Committee was agreeable to the course of action suggested by the Licensing Officer being followed in respect of implementation the new licencing conditions.

RESOLVED THAT

the amendments to the Council’s Licensing Policy be approved as set out in the report of the Licensing Officer, subject to any ratification required by Council.

The Committee received an information report about the main activities of the Community Protection Team for the period April to May 2011.

The Regulatory Services Manager presented a report about the main regulatory activities of Environmental Health & Trading Standards service for the period April – May 2011 and outlined the salient points.

An information report was received by the Committee about the main regulatory activities of the Private Sector Housing Department for the year 2010/11.

A report was presented by the Committee Manager about matters which had been dealt with by the Officer’s Panel and the Regulatory Sub-Committee, since the last meeting of the Committee which was held on 5th April, 2011.