Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 17 July 2019 were confirmed as correct.

The Council’s Service Manager, Public Protection, presented a report updating the Committee on the results of the recent consultation undertaken on the draft Barking and Dagenham Sex Establishments Policy.

The public consultation took place over 10 weeks between 17 June and 24 August 2019. At the heart of the consultation an online questionnaire providing multiple choice answers was made available. The consultation sought views on whether the Council should use available adoptive provisions to extend the current sex establishment licensing regime to also include sex entertainment venues and, subject to this, on the content of a supportive draft revised sex establishment licensing policy.

Members noted that 136 responses were received, and those responses provided strong support for a local licensing scheme for sex entertainment venues.

The Service Manager for Public Protection highlighted key areas of the report which showed:

· 91.9% of respondents supported the proposal;

· 92.6% of respondents believed that the Council should be able to determine the matters to be taken into account when determining licence applications;

· 91.9% of respondents believed the Council should be able to determine the locations that were suitable for a licence to be granted;

· 95.5% of respondents believed that the Council should be able to determine the terms, conditions and restrictions under which any licensed premises might operate;

· 75% of respondents did not agree that applications should be considered upon their own merits;

· 80.5% of respondents believed that no area of the borough was suitable for a licensed sex entertainment venue to operate; and

· 72.1% of respondents supported a licensing establishing ‘nil’ as the appropriate number for local licensed sex establishments (a ‘nil’ policy).

In response to questions, the Service Manager for Public Protection advised the Committeethat:

· Best practice standard terms and conditions had been proposed as part of the policy;

· Enforcement activities would be undertaken on a risk-based assessment;

· The response rate to the consultation was higher than previous consultations on licensed areas, such as the Gambling Policy;

· Licenses issued would be for a maximum duration of one year at a time; and

· If an application was received, a Licensing Sub-Committee would be set up to ensure any application is heard on its own merits.

The report was noted.

The Committee noted the report.