Agenda item - Work of the Licensing Authority – Licensing & Gambling 1/11/12-31/1/14

Report of the Head of Regulatory Services (copy attached)

RESOLVED – (1) That the Committee notes the contents of the report; and

(2) That officers should continue to monitor trends of applications and illegal activity to inform future  policy.

27.1    The Committee considered a report of the Head of Regulatory Services setting out the licensing and gambling functions of Brighton & Hove Council carried out between 1 January 2012 and 31 January 2014.

27.2    The report detailed national matters including legislative changes and consultation; local licensing matters including street drinking/Sensible on Strength, student freshers/pub crawls/ promoters and best practice licensing initiatives. Also, local gambling matters including betting shops/fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs), o-regulation and intelligence sharing between the Licensing Authority, Gambling Commission and the Police and illegal poker in clubs and pubs.

27.3    Councillor Duncan commended the report which in his view indicated the depth and breadth of work undertaken by the Licensing Authority and the hard work carried out by Officers.

27.4    Councillor Simson referred to the interdepartmental work undertaken to seek to address illegal activity e.g., the sale of counterfeit alcohol and that on which the requisite level of duty had not been paid. She referred to proposed initiatives by Central Government on alcohol pricing stating that she was unsure whether this would apply to all alcohol including wines/spirits, or just those which were high strength.

27.5    The Senior Environmental Health Officer explained that initiatives and work to address illegal activity were ongoing and that the minimum pricing strategy would apply sales of all  alcohol based on its  strength. The Head of Regulatory Services stated that latterly problems associated with illegal activity in relation to alcohol appeared to have receded somewhat and issues had been identified in relation to illegal activity relating to alcohol, however, a vigilant approach was continuing. It should be noted that a Scrutiny exercise was underway in relation to the number of Temporary Event Notices (TENs) being requested, there appeared to have been an increase particularly in those requested for church halls and similar venues. Findings from the Scrutiny exercise would be reported back to the Committee following its completion.

27.6    In answer to questions by Councillor Simson the Head of Regulatory Services explained that TEN applications accounted for around 10% of the number of applications received overall.

27.7    Councillor C Theobald referred to the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 now in force, and to the incidence of theft of lead roofing materials pipe work and other materials from churches which this had in art been brought in to address.

27.8    Councillor Sykes referred to a TEN application Hearing which he had sat on a while ago where the Police expressed concern regarding the style of event for which approval had been sought, indicating that they would be likely to raise more objections in respect of future applications. The Head of Regulatory Services responded that currently the Police appeared to be taking the same stance in relation to TEN applications as they  had done previously and  it  was understood that they assessed applications carefully prior to making their comments.

27.9    Councillor Deane commended the report and wished to place on record her congratulations to Jim  Whitelegg, Senior Environmental Health Officer who had been elected Chair of the Sussex Licensing Liaison Group for 2014.

27.10  RESOLVED – (1) That the Committee notes the contents of this report; and

            (2) That officers should continue to monitor trends of applications and illegal activity to inform future policy.