Agenda item

Licensing Act 2003 - Review of Statement of Licensing Policy (SOLP)

This is the first Statement of Licensing Policy for BCP Council since the establishment, on the 1^st April 2019 of a single local government area for the now dissolved boroughs of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.

Following 2 consultation periods, agreed by members of the Licensing Committee and undertaken in accordance with Section 5 of the Licensing Act 2003, the Licensing Committee on behalf of the Licensing Authority must now consider all responses received in respect of the proposed Statement of Licensing Policy and either decide to include them or exclude them and provide reasons for their decision.

Minutes:

The Licensing Manager presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'A' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

It was noted that this was the first Statement of Licensing Policy for BCP Council since the establishment, on the 1^st April 2019 of a single local government area for the now dissolved boroughs of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. Consultation on the proposed SOLP had been undertaken in accordance with Section 5 of the Licensing Act 2003 and agreed by Members of the Licensing Committee. The Licensing Manager explained that due to significant feedback and proposed amendments following public consultation on Version 5 of the SOLP, a further six week consultation on Version 6 had taken place. The Licensing Committee on behalf of the Licensing Authority was now required to consider the final draft of the SOLP (Version 7, attached at Appendix 1 of the report) and all responses received (listed in Appendix 2 of the report), and decide whether to include or exclude the responses and provide reasons for its decision.

The Committee confirmed its agreement with the action already taken by officers as indicated against the consultation responses listed in Appendix 2.

The Chairman explained that the Committee would now consider the following responses which were highlighted in the document for discussion and decision:

Paragraph number	Respondent	Summary of Comments	Committee Decision	Reason
6.6	Roger Brewer, Upton Country Park	Perhaps helpful to confirm that Council premise licence is for 4999 capacity, does not include alcohol and is only available subject to agreement and conditions. Larger events required to apply for own premise licence - past examples have included Starlight ‘Dance in the Park’ hosted at Upton Country Park in 2019 which attracted an audience of over 7k.	Exclude	Amendment unnecessary as already have provision under BCP Council licence and 6.6 applies across BCP. Works well as it is. Could be onerous on individuals and licensing team.
7.3	Sandra Graham, Trethowans LLP	Effectively repetition of 1.2	Exclude	Helpful to restate timescales in different section of document, for clarity
8.3/8.4	As above	Combine wording with 8.7 as so similar, in order to be succinct	Exclude	Helpful to retain wording as is, for clarity
8.8	As above	Repeat of 1.4	Exclude	Retain, as helpful to restate licensable activities in different section for clarity
Section 9	Martyn Underhill, Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner	Concerned that changes appear to advocate lighter touch than previously and removes previous BBC Cumulative Impact Special Policy that was kept under regular review. New proposal states that BCP Council may produce Cumulative Impact Assessment Policy. Given issues and hotspot areas that already exist I would expect to see such a Policy produced and continue to be kept under regular review.	Exclude	No substantial evidence received from any of the Responsible Authorities following the Licensing Authority’s ‘call for evidence’ to support the designation of a cumulative impact zone in BCP Council area. V6 was amended to reflect this. Needs to be evidence based in accordance with the Licensing Act 2003 and associated guidance. Position can be reviewed at any time should evidence be provided and the Committee discussed and noted the process for doing so.
10.4	Sandra Graham Trethowans LLP	Helpful to clarify rebuttable presumption of what	Accept	Accept paragraph can be deleted as relates to Cumulative Impact area
10.9	As above	Are all licensees regardless of type of premises expected to maintain ongoing review of need for alternatives to glass? If so, do you require this to be documented. If not, how is compliance with this proved?	Exclude	Accept officer evaluation that all premises expected to include this in risk assessments, which should be available on request by authorised officer. Include reference to risk assessment in paragraph.
12.3	Martyn Underhill, Dorset PCC	It isn’t clear what the current ‘mix/diversity’ looks like and how used to inform future licensing decisions. Would like to see a Cumulative Impact Statement or Policy that addresses this and allows for informed and evidence-based decision making. Also mindful of current situation and recovery process from Covid-19 which is likely to have a significant impact on a number of businesses and premises and could see the diversity of premises also change as a result.	Accept	Accept officer recommendation to remove section as misleading and outside of Licensing Authority powers. All applications dealt with in accordance with Act and regulations.
14.8	Sandra Graham Trethowans LLP	Providing information on the premises of local taxi companies who can provide safe transportation home. The word safe in this context concerns me as whilst it is very much hoped it is safe the operator of the licensed premises cannot vouch for the fact that the taxi called is safe	Accept	Agree with reasoning and suggestion to amend wording to include licensed taxi company and remove word ‘safe’
14.18	As above	Likely to be problematic and cause issues for licensee whose licence goes well beyond these licensing hours at night particularly where hotels ae concerned. Is the suggestion that such persons wishing to smoke then move to a public pavement or similar after 11pm?	Accept	Agree with reasoning and amend wording to ‘After 2300 consideration should be given to the impact of patrons using the outside smoking areas. LA normally expect public use of external areas in licensee’s control to cease at 2300, or additional controls of patrons put in place’
14.34	Jill Aiken, Strategic Safeguarding and Quality Manager, BCP Council	Please add something which refers to delivery of alcohol also having Challenge 25 scheme used	Accept	Agree with suggestion to add wording to include alcohol delivered in bullet point referencing Challenge 25, for clarity.
19.1	Sandra Graham, Trethowans LLP	Does some council area refer to some areas within BCP council or generally geographically across the country, requires clarity	Accept	Agree can be removed from paragraph as generic for the country
23.1	As above	Second sentence needs clarity and costs being awarded against who	Accept	Agree to add following at end of paragraph for clarity: costs being awarded to either party depending on the outcome of appeal
Protection of Children from Harm - Staff training	Julia Palmer, JCP Law	Remove reference to TSSW specific training.	Accept	Agree with comments made that too prescriptive, many operators have own training procedures, onus of premise licence holder to ensure staff appropriately trained. This training has not inconsiderable cost element, which could be unacceptable burden to applicants.
Prevention of Crime and Disorder – ABV Limit	Philip Day, Laceys Solicitors	This makes it look as if this would be the norm – what about craft beers, etc?	Amend	Not the norm, condition usually qualified by a reference to sales of single cans or bottles of less than 2litres in volume. Agree to add reference that condition is applied as needed depending on application (for example, where there are particular concerns about street drinking).
Prevention of Crime and Disorder – Off Sales	As above	Third paragraph – alcohol outside shall only be consumed by patrons seated at tables	Accept	Delete. Agree with comment made that this would result in patrons not being able to stand and drink in a beer garden. Either people will be allowed to take alcohol away from the premises of won’t be. Difficult to enforce.
Protection of Children from Harm – Challenge 21 or 25	As above	Amend first paragraph to delete words in brackets	Accept	Agreed
Protection of Children from Harm – Staff training	As above	Amend wording to replace reference to TSSW to read “shall be trained with regard to the law on restricted sales (to persons who are under the age of 18 and/or intoxicated) and with regard to the terms and conditions of the premises licence….A written record of all staff training shall be maintained and kept on the premises and made available on request to the police or other authorised officers.”	Accept	Agree to amend wording, reflects previous comment made by Julia Palmer above, and noted that inclusion of restricted sales covers everything

RESOLVED that the Committee records its thanks to the Licensing Manager and the Licensing team for their work in preparing the new Statement of Licensing Policy for BCP Council

RECOMMENDED that the final version of the Statement of Licensing Policy as amended by the Committee be adopted by Full Council.

Voting: Unanimous

Supporting documents: