Decision details

The Assembly received and noted this report on a revised Statement of Licensing Policy for the Borough, introduced by the Divisional Director for Environment (DDE).

The DDE advised that a number of changes had been made to the Council’s current policy to reflect new legislative arrangements as well as local concerns.  In this latter respect, the changes included restrictions on the hours of sale of alcohol both late at night and in the morning, the principle that alcohol licences would generally be refused for premises in the vicinity of schools, stricter requirements for the location of alcohol in off-licence premises and the active promotion of the existing Responsible Retailer scheme.

In response to Members' questions, the DDE advised that:

v  the policy was a requirement of the Licensing Act 2003;

v  activities covered by the policy were set out in Part A of Appendix 1 to the report but did not cover the sale of adult books;

v  he would provide Members with the number of applications that had been refused or revoked in the last year;

v  any licensing concerns that Members might have should be addressed to him rather than Licensing Board Members so as to avoid the perception of pre-determination;

v  concerns as to drug use in licensed premises would be a police matter;

v  the policy would be effective when approved by the Assembly.

The DDE also explained the methodology for calculating the maximum 30% of retail space allowed in off-licences for the sale of alcohol.

The Cabinet Member for Crime, Justice and Communities commended the policy to the Assembly and thanked officers and stakeholders for their hard work in the consultation and preparation of it.

Assembly agreed to adopt the Statement of Licensing Policy 2012-2015 as attached at Appendix 1 to the report.