The Head of Environmental Development has submitted a report which seeks Council’s adoption of the draft Street Trading Policy 2015, following approval by the General Purposes Licensing Committee on 27 January 2015.

The relevant minute (15) of the General Purposes Licensing Committee meeting on 27 January is attached as Appendix 2. The Committee agreed to approve the draft Street Trading Policy 2015 and recommend it to Council for adoption.

Officer recommendation: That the Council adopt the draft Street Trading Policy 2015.

Council had before it a report setting out the draft Street Trading Policy 2015 for adoption following approval by the General Purposes Licensing Committee on 27 January 2015, and the recommendations of that committee.

Councillor Clarkson moved adoption of the Street Trading Policy and this was agreed on being seconded and put to the vote.

Councillor Wolff asked that officers took into account the primary activity being carried out when enforcing this policy; for example in relation to buskers selling their music as a secondary activity.

Council resolved to adopt the Street Trading Policy 2015 as set out in the appendix to the report.

Pages 51-86 of the agenda.

Further to the meeting of the General Purposes Licensing Committee, this item is deferred until the next Council meeting.

The Chair of the Committee, Councillor Clarkson, will move withdrawal and there will be no discussion at this meeting.

The attached report and policy have been submitted to the General Purposes Licensing Committee for consideration at their meeting on 27 January.

The report details the responses to the public consultation on the Street Trading Policy review 2014 (attached as Appendix A to the papers for the committee meeting and not reproduced here) and asks the Committee’s to agree the revised Street Trading Policy and recommend this to Council for adoption. The policy to be considered by the Committee is attached.

The decision and recommendations of the Committee will be reported in the briefing note along with any additional or replacement recommendations to Council.

Council is recommended to:

consider the recommendations to Council made by the General Purposes Licensing Committee on 27 January 2015.

Councillor Clarkson, Chair of the General Licensing Committee, recommended deferring consideration of this item to the next meeting and Council concurred. The policy was not discussed at this meeting.

The Head of Environmental Development has submitted a report which details the responses to the public consultation on the Street Trading Policy review 2014.  The report seeks Committee’s agreement to the revised Street Trading Policy and recommends the revised Policy to Council. 

Officer recommendation: That the Committee:

 1. Approves the revised Street Trading Policy 2015

2. Recommends to Council the adoption of the Street Trading Policy 2015.

The Head of Environmental Development submitted a report (previously circulated, now appended) which detailed the responses to the public consultation on the draft Street Trading Policy.

The Licensing Officer presented the report. She explained that 58 responses to the consultation had been received, most in favour of the proposed policy. It was explained that farmer markets would not be included in the fees.

Martin Kersh on behalf of Foodservice Packaging Association spoke against the proposal to make all packaging either biodegradable or recyclable. He explained that the focus should be on changing people’s behaviour (so they do not littler) rather than replacing one type of packaging with another.

The following comments were raised:

• The change to biodegradable or recyclable packaging proposed is to enable more waste to be recycled, not to change litter behaviour. The wording in the policy is sufficiently flexible to allow traders to determine which packaging is best for them.
• A guidance note on what packaging can be recycled by different waste collector to be created by licensing officers and circulated to street traders.
• The Committee felt 100 metres was sufficient distance to require traders to be away from any school. This restriction does not apply to higher education establishments.
• A Level 2 food hygiene certificate is high enough to prepare food safely.  Food hygiene standards are the same for street traders and premises.
• There is no need to require traders to provide healthy options in the policy as street trader already offer a wide range of healthy eating options in the city.
• The Broad Street protocol covers events on Broad Street. Licensing officers already consider it when relevant applications are received, so there is no need for it to be specifically mentioned in the Street Trading Policy.
• 5.6(2) will be re-worded by officers to make it clearer.
• The City Council cannot regulate A-Boards in the policy as they are a highways issue. It is best to consider them case by case

The Committee resolved to APPROVE the draft Street Trading Policy 2015 and recommend it to Council for adoption.

The Head of City Development has submitted a report which details a report on the draft Street Trading Policy 2014. 

Recommendations: That the Committee:

i) notes the content of the report and approve the draft Street Trading Policy;

ii) authorises the Head of Environmental Development to undertake a public consultation on the reviewed Street Trading Policy.

The Head of City Development submitted a report (previously circulated now appended) which detailed a report on the draft Street Trading Policy 2014. 

 The following comments were made:

·         Welcomed the condition for all food packaging to be biodegradable once traders have used up their current supply.

·         Concern was raised about statutory consultees not replying during consultations and the default being that this implied consent.  Officers explained the process they went through to encourage consultees to respond.

·         Better for the draft policy to restrict street trading consents near schools, by stating a set distance from schools rather than the broader “on the school route”

·         Restrictions of A-Boards have not been included in the draft policy because A-Boards are a planning control issue.

·         The new condition requiring street traders to have at least a 3 star food hygiene rating is the best way to make sure food preparation is safe. Food Safety Officers do frequent checks of street traders to make sure food hygiene standards are maintained.

The Committee resolved to:

1. NOTE the content of the report and approve the draft Street Trading Policy;

2. AUTHORISE the Head of Environmental Development to undertake a public consultation on the reviewed Street Trading Policy.