Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 October 2016 were confirmed as correct.

·  1 December 2016;

·  13 December 2016; and

·  2 February 2017.

The Licensing and Regulatory Board received and noted the minutes of the Sub Committees held on:

·  1 December 2016;

·  13 December 2016; and

·  2 February 2017

The Service Manager for Public Protection presented a report to the Board on the Statement of Licensing Policy 2017 – 2022.

The Policy, which came into effect on 3 March 2017 had an immediate effect on current licensed operators and was applied to all relevant licence applications made to the Council after that date.

The statement of policy aimed to:

·  Promote the four licensing objectives;

·  Benefit all sections of the Barking and Dagenham community;

·  Boost the local economy;

·  Encourage a broad range of licensed premises across the borough;

·  Support consistent licensing decisions; and

·  Support licensing decisions that may be subject of appeal.

The Service Manager for Public Protection advised that the policy was set out into seven sections and detailed these to the Board.

The Board were informed that the Immigration Act 2016 had come into force on 1 April 2017 and placed a duty on all employers to request the ‘right to work’ of an employee.  Furthermore, Licensing Authorities were now required to check all paperwork was in place before any licence could be issued.

In response to questions, the Board were advised that:

·  There were two significant changes to the Policy.  The first was to ensure applicants operating schedules were included with all applications and the second was an addition to the responsible authorities, which now included Public Health;

·  The changes introduced by the Immigration Act 2016 meant that Immigration Officers were now consulted on applications when they were received by the Licensing Team; and

·  Immigration Officers now had a right of entry to licensed premises within the Borough.  The Licensing Authority would be notified if a visit was made.

The report was noted.

The Service Manager for Public Protection presented an update report to the Licensing and Regulatory Board on appeals and applications made to the Council since the last Board meeting in October 2016.

The Board were advised that the work undertaken by the Licensing Team included:

·  The Statement of Licensing Policy 2017 – 2022 completed; 

·  The Statement of Gambling Policy 2017 -2020 – currently under review;

·  Seven Reviews;

·  112 Temporary Event Notices (TENs) processed;

·  0 Appeals;

·  200 Applications received and processed;

·  114 Test purchases of alcohol which resulted in 11 failures; and

·  Immigration Act 2016 in progress.

In particular, the Board were pleased to note that there were no appeals following Licensing Sub Committees.

The report was noted.