Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any announcements from the chair and general housekeeping matters.

The chair welcomed everyone to the meeting, outlined the procedure to be followed and advised on emergency evacuation arrangements.

To record apologies for absence. 

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Paul Barrow.

To adopt and sign as a correct record the General Licensing Committee minutes of the meeting held on 23 May 2024.

RESOLVED: to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 23 May 2024 as a correct record and agree that the Chair sign them as such.

To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests and any conflicts of interest in respect of items on the agenda for this meeting.  

Councillor Neil Fawcett declared that he was a member of the Loose Cannon Brewery members club who have street traders at their venues. As there was no conflict, Councillor Fawcett remained in the room and continued to debate and vote on the item.

To receive notification of any matters which the chair determines to be considered as urgent business and the special circumstances which have made the matters urgent. 

There was no urgent business.

To receive any questions or statements from members of the public that have registered to speak. 

There were no registered speakers.

To consider the report of the Head of Communities in relation to the review of the council’s joint street trading policy.

The licensing team leader introduced the report and highlighted that agreement was being sought to carry out a six week consultation on the proposed joint street trading policy. She informed the committee that changes to existing policy were outlined in the report with an explanation at paragraph 7 of the report about an addition to the policy for multiple site traders. Changes also included the addition of proposed measures to be taken by traders to minimise their environmental impact in relation to packaging and waste, assist with the council’s climate objectives.

The committee discussed the report and noted that they were pleased to see the council had a licensing process for street traders. They reflected that the process was simplified for traders without removing the protection for the public.

Members enquired as to whether any engagement had been carried out with pubs who allowed street traders to operate at their sites. The licensing team leader advised that no prior engagement had been carried out but that if the consultation was approved, any current sites would be included as a consultee.

The committee enquired as to the grounds for refusal of an application set out under section 5.4 c) of the policy. The licensing and community safety manager advised that this delegation for refusal had not changed since the previous policy and that it would not automatically lead to a refusal with the decision requiring an element of judgement and a referral always being made to the legal team. She confirmed there is an appeal process for any application which is refused. The committee suggested that such refusals should be referred to a panel for consideration. The licensing team leader agreed to take this suggestion away but also advised the committee that there was scope for these decisions to be taken by officers in consultation with the chair or vice chair of the committee.

The committee suggested that guidance is provided to traders in order to ensure they meet their obligations in relation to packaging and waste and that a plan should be submitted with their application. The licensing team leader confirmed this guidance was already being discussed with waste project officers.

The committee thanked officers for the report.

RESOLVED:

The committee authorises the Head of Communities to carry out a consultation on the proposed joint street trading policy at Appendix A.