None.

The Head of Regulatory Services and Community Safety has submitted a report to inform Committee of the progress made by the Licensing Authority under the Licensing Act 2003 and Gambling Act 2005 during the current Council year, following the period of the pandemic.

Recommendation(s): That the Licensing and Gambling Acts Committee is recommended to:

1.      Note the contents of the report; and

2.      Make any comments and recommendations regarding the future work of the Licensing function.

Emma Thompson, Senior Licensing Compliance Officer, presented the report which set out the progress made by the Licensing Authority during the Council period of March 2020 and September 2022, following the pandemic. The following points were highlighted:

·         The data on applications received by the Licensing Authority.

·         9 Temporary Events Notices (TEN) were received representations from Business Regulations or Temporary Police Licensing. All TENs were issued with Counter-Notices due to late submission of less than 10 working days.

·         A total of 127 Premises Licenses were issued, including full and minor variations.

·         16 Premises Licence applications were the subject of relevant representations which required determination by the Licensing & Gambling Acts Casework Sub-Committee.

·         1 appeal regarding a Licensing & Gambling Acts Casework Sub-Committee decision was initially granted with additional conditions but was subsequently withdrawn by the appellant following an officer and legal advisor appearance at the Magistrate Court.

Notable achievements by the Licensing Authority were also underlined including the Authority's good relations with the Institute of Licensing (IOL), its involvement in the Institute's various training courses and networking events, as well as its membership with the National Association of Licensing Enforcement Officers (NALEO); the adoption of a new Statement of Gambling Licensing Policy which came into force in January 2022 until January 2025, and the adoption of a new Statement of Licensing Policy and Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) which came into effect in March 2022.

Cllr Corais joined the meeting.

In response to questions from the Committee, the Senior Licensing Compliance Officer advised on the procedures followed relating to suspected cases of drink spiking. In terms of allegations, she confirmed that officers processed alleged cases and involved the NHS, however, identified that medical tests did not indicate positive results until hours after the incident and that victims were unlikely to pursue the matter. She also noted the several partnerships and schemes that were initiated to aid in the active monitoring of CCTV and presence of volunteers in known streets and premises, such as Nightsafe Network Oxford, Oxford City Angels, Safe Places and Street Pastors.

The Committee commented on the increase of TENs and queried the types of events which licence holders had applied for, the impacts on varying locations and representations. The Senior Licensing Compliance Officer stated no one premises had applied for more than any other type but could cover school fetes to extensions for Fresher’s Events as recently seen; no premises had exhausted their full allocation of TENs this year.

The Committee noted the contents of the report.

Recommendation: That the minutes of the meeting held on 19 May 2022 be APPROVED as a true and accurate record.

The Committee agreed to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 19 May 2022 as a true and accurate record.

The Committee is scheduled to meet at 6.00pm on the following dates:

·       06 February 2023

The Committee noted the dates and times of future meetings.