No substitutes are allowed and the Quorum is 5 Members.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Colin Cook, Gwynneth Royce, Bob Timbs, and David Williams.

Councillors serving on the Committee are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in any of the following agenda items.

None declared.

The City Centre Police Inspector Katy Barrow-Grint will attend the meeting at the request of the Committee to talk about the Police strategy for the City centre.

The Committee welcomed Katy Barrow-Grint, City Centre Police Inspector, to the meeting.

Katy Barrow-Grint said that she had joined the Team in June 2011 and had spent six months reviewing the Team.  Her key priority was to reduce crime that was important to the community by working in partnership with the community and other bodies.  She said that her Team had been working with the Council on multi-agency visits to premises and making it clear that these premises had to work with the Police.  This had resulted in quarterly meetings now taking place and greater communication with the premises.

Katy Barrow-Grint said that a recent operation called “Operation Bedtime” had taken place, whereby Officers attended premises specifically to deal with fake ID’s.  When these were found, Officers tried to establish where they had come from and informed the parents of those with fake ID’s.  She also highlighted the issue of thefts in licensed premises which linked in with Pub Watch, which was now fully operational in the City centre with 26 premises in the scheme.  She added that while the Police supported Pub Watch this was a scheme run by the trade.

Other initiatives being worked on included the “Best Bar None Scheme” which was much like the Purple Flag Scheme, and to ensure that incidents of racism were reported as this was currently an under reported crime.  She added that Thames Valley Police had recently reviewed their approach to the Council's Special Saturation Policy and that in relation to licensing hearings Officers would now present information to the Council which was focused on cumulative impact, remembering that if an increase to cumulative impact was likely there was a presumption against granting.

Councillor Brett asked what happened when a taxi driver was arrested for a serious crime. In response Katy Barrow-Grint said that while the system currently in place had worked well so far, there would now be specific Officers who would be informed who would then pass this information to the Council.  She further added that she was looking to implement further changes to improve the process.

Councillor Brett asked what the Police was doing to reassure premises that when an incident was reported, it would not be held against them.  In response Kay Barrow-Grint said that this would not be the case and it was about open communication between the premises and the Police.

Councillor Campbell said with regard to the Special Saturation Policy (SSP) that he would be concerned if Police evidence was to be limited because of the presumption within the SSP. It was difficult for Councillors to make a decision on a presumption rather than on data.  In response Katy Barrow-Grint said that each case was dealt with on a case by case basis.

Councillor Goddard welcomed the initiatives outlined by Katy Barrow-Grint, but was concerned that Officers tended to move from one position to other on a frequent basis.  In response Katy Barrow-Grint said  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

The Head of Environmental Development has submitted a report which informs the Committee of the progress made by the Licensing Authority under the Licensing Act 2003 and Gambling Act 2005 between September 2011 and December 2011.

The Committee is asked to:

(a)       Note the contents of the report;

(b)       Make comments and recommendations regarding the future work of the Licensing Function.

The Head of Environmental Development submitted a report (previously circulated, now appended) which informed the Committee of the progress made by the Licensing Authority under the Licensing Act 2003 and Gambling Act 2005 between September 2011 and December 2011.

Julian Alison introduced the report and took the Committee through the activities.

Councillor Brett asked why Councillors could not hear licensing applications if the applications were for premises in their own wards, yet they could decide planning applications within their own wards.  He suggested that this difference be dropped from the Policy.

In response Daniel Smith said that he would take the request back to the Head of Law and Governance and seek advice and inform Members of the outcome.

Councillor Goddard pointed out that the note of the Licensing Sub Committee decision shown on page 35 of the Agenda did not include the Chair of that hearing. Daniel Smith said that he recalled the hearing had been chaired by Councillor Cook and that Councillor Goddard had been one of the other members. 

The Committee agreed to note the report.

The Head of Environmental Development has submitted a report which updates Members regarding the response sent by the Licensing Authority to the Home Office consultation: Relaxation of Licensing Hours For, The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

The Committee is asked to note the report.

The Head of Environmental Development submitted a report (previously circulated, now appended) which updated members regarding the response sent by the Licensing Authority to the Home Office consultation: Relaxation of Licensing Hours for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

The Committee agreed to note the report.

The Head of Environmental Development has submitted a report which asks the Committee to consider and respond to the Government’s Consultation on its proposals to deal with “the problems of late night drinking”.

The Committee is asked to consider the information contained in this report and delegate authority to the Head of Environmental Development to draft a response based on the Committees views and present to the Chair and Vice-Chair for final approval before submitting to the Home Office.

The Head of Environmental Development submitted a report (previously circulated, now appended) which asked the Committee to consider and respond to the Government’s consultation on its proposals to deal with “the problems of late night drinking”.

The Committee agreed:

(a)       To note the report;

(b)       To delegate authority to the Head of Environmental Development to draft a response and present to the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Licensing and Gambling Acts Committee for final approval before submitting to the Home Office.

The Head of Environmental Development has submitted a report which seeks agreement of the licence fees for 2012/13 where the Council has discretion over the level of fee charged.

The Committee is asked to:

(a)       Note the licence fees set by statute;

(b)       Agree the licence fees for 2012/13 as set out in this report.

The Head of Environmental Development submitted a report (previously circulated, now appended) which sought agreement of the licence fees for 2012/13 where the Council had discretion over the level of fee charged.

The Committee agreed:

(a)       To note the licence fees set by statute;

(b)       To approve the Licence Fees for 2012/13 as set out in the report subject to the Head of Environmental Development seeking clarification on the percentage increase of either 4% or 4.5% so as to bring these in line with the Licence Fees set by the General Purposes Licensing Committee.

Minutes of the meeting held on 19^th October 2011.

The Committee agreed to approve the minutes (previously circulated) of the meeting held on 19^th October 2011.

The Committee noted that its next meeting would be on Monday 28^th May 2012.