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Lewes and Eastbourne
Councils

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Court Room at Eastbourne Town Hall, Grove Road, BN21 4UG

Contact: Committee Services on 01323 410000 

Note: This meeting is open to the public to attend. Whilst seating is currently limited due to social distancing guidelines, we ask that if you are planning to attend and observe the meeting, please let us know by emailing committees@lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk or telephone 01323 415290 and let us know if you need to use the hearing loop unit at the meeting. We will also require that you wear a face covering (unless medically exempt), observe social distancing and check in at the meeting using the OR codes provided. All attendees are also requested to take a lateral flow test before attending a meeting. 

Items
No. Item

20.

Introductions

Minutes:

Members of the Committee and Officers present introduced themselves via roll call during the meeting.

 

21.

Minutes of the meeting held on 27 July 2021 pdf icon PDF 179 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 27 July 2021 were submitted and approved, and the Chair was authorised to sign them as a correct record.

 

22.

Apologies for absence/declaration of substitute members

Minutes:

An apology for absence had been received from Councillor Candy Vaughan.

23.

Declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPIs) by members as required under Section 31 of the Localism Act and of other interests as required by the Code of Conduct.

Minutes:

There were none.

 

24.

Questions by members of the public

On matters not already included on the agenda and for which prior written notice has been given (total time allowed 15 minutes).

 

Minutes:

There were none.

 

25.

Urgent items of business

The Chairman to notify the Committee of any items of urgent business to be added to the agenda.

 

Minutes:

There were none.

 

26.

Right to address the meeting/order of business

The Chair to report any requests received to address the Committee from a member of the public or from a Councillor in respect of an item listed below and to invite the Committee to consider taking such items at the commencement of the meeting. 

 

One spokesperson is permitted to speak for 3 minutes and must register by 12noon on Friday, 14th January 2022.  Email: committees@lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk

 

Note:  Normally only one speaker is allowed to address the Committee on an item for three minutes and that one person should act as spokesperson for the group.  No more than one speaker can be allowed except in exceptional circumstances with prior agreement of the Chair at the registration deadline.

 

Minutes:

Shoes Simes, Chair of Your Eastbourne Bid, and Vice President of Eastbourne Chamber of Commerce had  registered to speak on item 8, Review of the Eastbourne Borough Council Cumulative Impact Assessment part of the Statement of Licensing Act Policy 2019-2024 (Licensing Act Policy).

 

27.

Approval of Licensing Fees pdf icon PDF 101 KB

Report of the Director of Service Delivery

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Service Delivery which sought the approval of the Licensing fees proposed within Appendix 1 to apply from 1 April 2022, and for them to be recommended to Full Council for approval.

 

The Regulatory Services Lead (RSL) presented the report and highlighted the changes in relation to the taxi licensing surplus, including reducing Private Hire Operators Licence fees, the slight increase in the number of gambling premises and the substantial increase in the licensing fees relating to Dangerous Wild Animal Licences, as set out in the report and Appendix 1.  RSL advised of an additional small decrease in fees for external plates and door signs.

 

Several amendments to the report were noted at paragraph 2.2, the Total Income Estimates were corrected from £213,900 to £213,250, £23,900  was corrected to -£11,600, and £237,800 was corrected to £201,650.  Therefore, the Total Estimated Annual Income (Taxi Licensing), was corrected from £92,550.00 to £84,550 at Appendix 1, page 16, line 52.

 

The Committee queried whether the fees for the dangerous wild animals should be tiered to reflect the scale of animal sizes.  It was asked if the range of fees had been benchmarked against other Local Authorities, and if officers could provide data on how many licences existed in the Borough per year in order to assess the charges and revenue.  Officers explained that the fees did not distinguish between animal size, the fees had been benchmarked against other Local Authorities, and that it would be possible going forward to provide data on the number of licences per year, if any.

 

Councillor Diplock proposed a motion to agree the officer recommendations listed in the report.  This was seconded by Councillor Murray.

 

Resolved (unanimous):

 

1)      That Full Council be recommended to approve the Licensing Fees proposed within Appendix 1 of the report, to apply from 1 April 2022, subject to the correction noted above to the Total Estimated Annual Income (Taxi Licensing).

28.

Review of the Eastbourne Borough Council Cumulative Impact Assessment part of the Statement of Licensing Act Policy 2019-2024 (Licensing Act Policy) pdf icon PDF 181 KB

Report of the Director of Service Delivery

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Shoes Simes, Chair of Your Eastbourne Bid, and Vice President of Eastbourne Chamber of Commerce, addressed the Committee in support of the removal of the Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) part of the Licensing Act Policy.

 

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Service Delivery to report the findings on the consultation concerning the Council’s Cumulative Impact Assessment part of the Statement of Licensing Act Policy 2019-2024 (Licensing Act Policy).

 

Appended to the report at Appendix 1 was the Statement of Licensing Policy 2019-2024 which included  the Cumulative Impact Assessment, and the analysis of the public consultation was appended to the report at Appendix 2.

 

It was noted that the Cumulative Impact Assessment must legally be reviewed every 3 years. Following consultation, the Statement of Licensing Policy 2019-2024 including a Cumulative Impact Assessment was last approved by Full Council on 17 June 2019.

 

The effect of adopting the Cumulative Impact Assessment within the Statement of Licensing Policy was to create a “rebuttable presumption” that applications for new premises licenses, club premises certificates or material variations would be refused unless the applicant could demonstrate that the operation of the premises would not add to the negative cumulative impact already experienced in the area and/or would not undermine the promotion of the Licensing Objectives.  Further details were contained in the report.

 

The Regulatory Services Lead presented the report.  The Committee was asked to consider and select one of the following options to be recommended to Full Council to:

 

  1. Keep the current Cumulative Impact Assessment.
  2. Change the area covered by the current Cumulative Impact Assessment.
  3. Remove the whole Cumulative Impact Assessment part of the policy at this time with an option to reintroduce if it becomes necessary.
  4. Remove the current Cumulative Impact Assessment part of the policy but replace with a set of principles (para 4.3 of the report) that the Licensing Authority would expect to be considered on all new or variation applications.

 

It was noted that one written response had been received from Sussex Police in relation to the consultation. Sussex Police was in favour of Option (d), to remove the current Cumulative Impact Assessment part of the policy but replace it with a set of principles that the Licensing Authority would expect to be considered on all new or variation applications.

 

Members’ questions included:

 

  • Had officers liaised with other Local Authorities on how they had approached the CIA, and what assessment had been made against the recommended options in pursuit of the Purple Flag accreditation? Officers confirmed that the Council had looked at how other Local Authorities had supported businesses.  Furthermore, the Council had recently employed two night time economy officers and delivered a successful Covid Ready Scheme in partnership with the Eastbourne Hospitality Association. Officers would also explore the Purple Flag accreditation. 

 

  • Would the licensing principles continue to put businesses off coming into the town?  The Lawyer advised that it was a question for Members judgment, the licensing principles were not binding and each licensing application was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

29.

Date of the next meeting

To note the next meeting of the Licensing Committee is scheduled to be held on Monday, 28 March 2022.

Minutes:

That the next meeting of the Licensing Committee scheduled to commence at 6:00pm on Monday, 28 March 2022, be noted.