Meeting documents

1

DECLARATION OF INTEREST

There was no declaration of interest by either a Member or Officer.

2

MINUTES

Minutes of the meeting of the Licensing Committee held on 10 May 2005 were confirmed and signed as a correct account of the meeting. (Council Volume 20.09.2005, pages 89 - 91)

3

LICENSING ISSUES

Submitted for consideration - a report by the Principal Trading Standards Officer advising the Licensing Committee of progress made by the Council regarding the Licensing Act 2003.

The report provided details of the background and processes undertaken in relation to the Licensing Act 2003. Members noted that although the process had commenced on 7 February 2005, very few applications were received until the final few weeks of the transition period. This placed huge strain on all those involved in the process. A similar rush of applications was seen in the weeks running up to the commencement date of 24th November 2005 as licensees tried to ensure all requirements were complied with.

Details of Premises Licences are:-

I.

Premises conversion only               150

II.

Premises conversion and variation           92

III.

New premises licence applications          33

Premises Licences Total          275

IV

Club Premises conversion only               11V/....)))()

V

Club premises conversion and variation          10

VI

New Club premises licence applications            0

          Club Premises Licences Total          21

     Details of Personal Licences:-

VII.

Personal Licence conversion only               300

VII.

New Personal Licences                    33

Personal Licences Total               333

As from 24th November a new system of licensing occasional events came into force. These Temporary Event Notices can be given up to a minimum of 10 days beforehand and requires all agencies involved to work to a tight deadline. To date, the Council has received 14 notices - mainly for the Christmas and New Year period.

The report concluded that whilst most public houses on Ynys Môn have increased their hours to some extent, only one public house and one off licence have obtained a 24 hour licence. Variation licences continue to be applied for as people and businesses alter and review their business practices under the new legislation.  Concerns have been raised by the industry that the process was too beaurocratic whilst communities argued insufficient attention was given to their concerns.

Government reviews are awaited with interest.

With regard to Enforcement Issues, the Council is working in partnership with the other local authorities in North Wales and with relevant agencies. The Authority has now prepared a Memorandum of Understanding on Enforcement issues which includes each agency's role under the Licensing Act as well as describing the means of communicating intelligence and information to all parties.

For the future, the Licensing Section is now working together with other departments within the Authority i.e. Education, offering advice and assistance with regard to Council owned properties and possible licensing requirements.

As regard the financial implications of the Licensing Function, the situation is being closely monitored and an year end report will be submitted in due course.

The Chairman stated he felt that both the Licensing Committee and the Licensing Panels had carried out their functions very well. The adopted Protocol had assisted in ensuring fair and reasonable decisions had been made. He welcomed the fact that to date no complaints have been received regarding new licenses. The Chairman thanked all the Members, in particular Councillors Peter Dunning and Dennis Hadley for Chairing Licensing Panels which involved applications in his Ward. He also thanked all the Officers for their work, including the Licensing, Legal and Committee

staff.

4

LICENSING PANELS

Submitted for consideration - a report by the Principal Trading Standards Officer advising the Committee of Licensing Hearings held to date under the Licensing Act 2003.

The Officer drew attention to the procedure and processes involved and reported that since the 7th February 2005, almost 50% of relevant applications received by the Council had generated representations by one or more of the Relevant Authorities or Interested Parties. By a process of mediation, most of the representations were withdrawn either through amendment to the application or by agreement of conditions to be imposed on the Licence.

However, a number of applications could not be agreed by the parties concerned and this had resulted in 31 formal hearings being held during the period from July to November. Following from the hearings, 5 notices of appeal were received involving 3 different applications, however, ultimately 4 were withdrawn and the final one was redirected for a rehearing by mutual consent of the parties involved.

The Officer thanked the Chairman and Members of the Panel together with the staff of Committee Section, Translators and the Legal Sections for their hard work and contribution in ensuring the process had run smoothly and efficiently.

The report drew attention to the fact that complaints against existing activity in licensed premises may generate the need for "reviews" - a process which involves licensing sub-committee's reviewing licensing conditions. There is also the possibility of hearings being required to deal with a Temporary Events Notice and that due to the need to organise a Panel meeting in a very short period of time Members may be required to attend a meeting having been given very little notice. The Officer thanked Members for their anticipated continued co-operation in ensuring the smooth running of the process.

     The Chairman thanked Members and Officers for their attendance and declared

     the meeting closed.

JOHN ARTHUR JONES

CHAIRMAN