Meeting Details

Licensing Committee
11 Nov 2020 - 18:00 to 20:00
Occurred

Please follow this link to watch the meeting live on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ColchesterCBC

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public at most public meetings. If you would like to submit representations to this meeting, please complete the Have Your Say! form here: Have Your Say!

For more information about having your say, please see our guidance webpage at https://colchester.cmis.uk.com/colchester/HaveYourSay.aspx

  • Documents
  • Attendance
  • Visitors
  • Declarations of Interests

Documents

Agenda

Part A
1 Welcome and Announcements (Virtual Meetings)
The Chairman will welcome members of the public and Councillors to the meeting and remind those participating to mute their microphones when not talking. The Chairman will invite all Councillors and Officers participating in the meeting to introduce themselves. The Chairman will, at regular intervals, ask Councillors to indicate if they wish to speak or ask a question and Councillors will be invited to speak in turn by the Chairman. A vote on each item of business will be taken by roll call of each Councillor and the outcome of each vote will be confirmed by the Democratic Services Officer.
2 Substitutions
Councillors will be asked to say if they are attending on behalf of a Committee member who is absent.
3 Urgent Items
The Chairman will announce if there is any item not on the published agenda which will be considered because it is urgent and will explain the reason for the urgency.
4 Declarations of Interest
Councillors will be asked to say if there are any items on the agenda about which they have a disclosable pecuniary interest which would prevent them from participating in any discussion of the item or participating in any vote upon the item, or any other pecuniary interest or non-pecuniary interest.
117
Councillor Hogg declared a non-pecuniary interest in agenda item 9, as he is a trustee of a building with a premises licence issued under the Licensing Act 2003, and he is the holder of a personal licence issued under the Licensing Act 2003. Councillor Chuah declared a non-pecuniary interest in agenda item 9, as she is a trustee of a venue that holds a premises licence issued under the Licensing Act 2003.
5 Minutes of Previous Meeting
The Councillors will be invited to confirm that the minutes of the meeting held on 30 September 2020 are a correct record.
118
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 30 September 2020 were confirmed as a correct record. 
6 Have Your Say! (Virtual Meetings)
Members of the public may make representations to the meeting.  Each representation may be no longer than three minutes (500 words).  Members of the public may register their wish to address the meeting by registering online by 12.00 noon on the working day before the meeting date. In addition a written copy of the representation will need to be supplied for use in the event of unforeseen technical difficulties preventing participation at the meeting itself. 
The Committee will consider a report examining the implications for the Council's Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy of the Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards issued by the Department of Transport in July 2020.
119

Sarah White, Senior Licensing Officer, attended to present the report and assist the Committee with their enquiries. The Committee heard that following the wellpublicised cases of sexual exploitation involving the taxi trade, there had been much discussion in the industry concerning licensing standards, and the Statutory Guidance which was presented to the Committee was the result of this. Sarah advised the Committee that the Council’s Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy (the Policy) which had been in place since January 2019, was largely compliant with the new Statutory Guidance, with only minor revisions necessary. It was intended to bring a further report to this Committee on the changes that did need to be made to the Policy in the near future. Sarah further confirmed that most of the work that was necessary in respect of the Policy was in relation to the standards for requiring Disclosure and Barring (DBS) checks, with the Guidance suggesting that a DBS check should be required every six months, which was at odds with the current Policy requirements.

The Committee praised the work that had been undertaken by Licensing Officers to date, and expressed its support for the changes that were suggested.

Councillor Crow referred to the suggestion that a sign be displayed in licensed vehicles advising passengers how to make a complaint to the Council, and suggested that an addition should be made to any signage to assure any passenger that their complaint and their personal details would be treated confidentially to try to make people more at ease about reporting problems.

Councillor Buston added his support to the proposed amendment of the wording of signage in vehicles to assure passengers that their details would be treated confidentially, and felt that this would help to overcome people’s reluctance to complain.

Sarah White offered the Committee assurance that all complaints were currently dealt with confidentially, and no personal details were ever shared with a third party, although there were some instances where the circumstances of the complaint were so specific that drivers may remember the passenger.

RESOLVED that the actions identified in Section 7 of the report be further investigated, and a report brought to the next meeting of the Committee setting out any changes necessary to the Policy and a timetable for their introduction.

The Committee will consider a report  providing an update on the licensing of caravan sites following the lifting of the provisions put in place as a result of the pandemic. 
120

Sarah White, Senior Licensing Officer, attended to present the report and assist the Committee with their enquiries. The Committee were advised that since the report had been drafted, the country had been placed into a second period of ‘lockdown’, and the restrictions associated with this had affected the position with regard to caravans and park homes. The principle change had been that anyone who had been on a caravan site, even if they had been in the process of being removed, now had the right to continue to reside there for the time as a result of the various coronavirus Regulations now in force. As soon as the legislation allowed, Officers would undertake further work in this area.

Councillor Buston appreciated the constraints placed on the Council by changing Regulations, but urged caution when determining whether or not a resident of a caravan park was entitled to benefit from a statutory exemption. He suggested that Officers obtain copies of any evidence that was produced to support a claim for exemption, and that Operators of caravan parks be advised that failure to provide such evidence, could lead to the revocation of their licence.

RESOLVED that the information contained in the report be noted. 

The Committee will be requested to approve the draft Statement of Licensing Policy, following a period of public consultation, and recommend its adoption to full Council.
121

Sarah White, Senior Licensing Officer, attended to present the report and assist the Committee with their enquiries. The Committee heard that the consultation period for the review of the Statement of Licensing Policy had finished, and that no comments had been received in respect of the proposed Policy during this period. Sarah indicated to the Committee that the policy had been left largely unaltered due to the current uncertainty brought about by the coronavirus outbreak, and the affect that this would have on the licensed trade both now and in the future. In the light of this, it was proposed that the Policy would be the subject of a thorough review in the future, once the position was clearer. The changes that had been made to the Policy (and which Members were advised were highlighted in bold type in the document) were minor, and necessary to bring the document up to date, and Members were requested to recommend that the updated Policy be recommended to Full Council for implementation on 1 January 2021.

Councillor Harris noted that there had been an addition to the Policy referring to Colchester’s Business Improvement District (BID), which he felt was timely and welcome.

RESOLVED that the Policy, attached at Appendix 1 to the report, be approved, and its adoption be recommended to full Council for implementation from 1 January 2021.

The Committee will consider a report setting out the current Work Programme 2020-2021 for the Licensing Committee, providing details of the reports that are scheduled for each meeting during the municipal year. 
122

Matthew Evans, Democratic Services Officer, introduced the work programme 2020- 2021.

RESOLVED that the contents of the work programme be noted. 

11 Exclusion of the Public (not Scrutiny or Executive)
In accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the public, including the press, from the meeting so that any items containing exempt information (for example confidential personal, financial or legal advice), in Part B of this agenda (printed on yellow paper) can be decided. (Exempt information is defined in Section 100I and Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972).
Part B

Attendance

Name
No other member attendance information has been recorded for the meeting.
NameReason for Sending ApologySubstituted By
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NameReason for AbsenceSubstituted By
No absentee information has been recorded for the meeting.

Declarations of Interests

Member NameItem Ref.DetailsNature of DeclarationAction
No declarations of interest have been entered for this meeting.

Visitors

Visitor Information is not yet available for this meeting