Agenda item

The Director of Environment and Community Services submitted a report seeking the Committee’s approval of the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy 2025-2030 and the Cumulative Impact Assessment 2025-2028 and to recommend to Full Council that the Policies be ratified.

 

The Committee was advised that Section 5 of the Licensing Act 2003 required Licensing Authorities to publish a Statement of Licensing Policy to be applied when exercising their functions under the Act. Pursuant to the Act, the Statement of Licensing Policy (SOLP) must be approved by Full Council.  The Policy had a lifespan of five years but must be kept under review during that time and revised when appropriate.

 

The purpose of the Policy was to promote the four Licensing Objectives, (Prevention of Crime and Disorder; Prevention of Public Nuisance; Public Safety; and Protection of Children from Harm) and was considered whenever the Council exercised its functions under the Licensing Act 2003.

 

The Council’s previous SOLP became effective on 1 January 2017 and lapsed on 31 December 2022, however, due to the impact of Covid it had not been possible to review the Policy and the Cumulative Impact Assessment until now.

 

In terms of the Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA), Section 5(a) of the Licensing Act 2003, stated that Local Authorities may publish a CIA to help limit the number and/or types of licence applications granted in particular areas where there was evidence to show that the number or density of licensed premises in the area was having a cumulative impact leading to problems that undermined the licensing objectives.

 

Middlesbrough Council had implemented CIAs for certain premises and the previous Policy included CIAs for On and Off Licensed premises in areas within the town centre and also for Off Licensed premises only within the Wards of: Central, Newport, Park, Longlands and Beechwood, and North Ormesby.

 

On 6 April 2018, the Policing and Crime Act 2017 introduced an amendment to the Licensing Act 2003, placing a duty on Licensing Authorities intending to implement a Cumulative Impact Policy to carry out a cumulative impact assessment to evidence justification of such a policy.

 

Section 5(a) of the Licensing Act stated that CIAs related to new applications for premises licences and club premises certificates in a specified area.  Where a Licensing Authority published a CIA in must, before the end of a three year period, consider whether it remained of the opinion set out in the assessment.

 

A draft Statement of Licensing Policy and Cumulative Impact Assessment was developed in accordance with the act and Officers were of the opinion that there was evidence to justify the inclusion of three additional Wards in the CIA in relation to Off Licensed premises.  These areas were:-

 

·         Park End and Beckfield

·         Brambles and Thorntree

·         Berwick Hills and Pallister

 

An eight-week consultation (from 1 July 2024 to 26 August 2024) was carried out with statutory consultees and wider partners which resulted in ten responses being received.  These were set out in a table at Appendix 1 to the report, together with Officers’ responses.

 

Having duly considered the consultation responses, a number of amendments were made to the Statement of Licensing Policy, including:-

 

·         Drink and Needle spiking (Paragraph 5.5)

·         Violence against women and girls (Paragraph 5.6)

·         Counter Terrorism – Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, also known as “Martyn’s Law” (Paragraph 5.7)

·         Public Space Protection Orders, including problems associated with street drinkers (Paragraph 5.1)

·         The role of Public Health and its influence on licensing decisions (Paragraph 3.11)

 

Further amendments were made in relation to matters concerning Child Sexual Exploitation (paragraph 8.1) and alcohol delivery services (paragraph 9.6).

 

Minor amendments had also been made to the Cumulative Impact Assessment.  It was highlighted to Members that having a CIA did not change the way that decisions were made under the Licensing Act 2003.  For example, where no representations were received in relation to an application, the Licensing Authority must grant the application subject to terms consistent with the applicant’s Operating Schedule.  Where relevant representations were received, each decision would be made on a case-by-case basis with a view to promoting the licensing objectives and it was the responsibility of the applicant to demonstrate that they would not add to the Cumulative Impact.  The Licensing Authority recognised that the cumulative impact policy was not absolute, and that any application would continue to be considered on its own merits, giving consideration to the applicant’s operating schedule, any relevant representations and whether the imposition of appropriate conditions would be effective in preventing problems.

 

A copy of the Draft SOLP and CIA were attached at Appendices 2 and 3 respectively and, for ease of reference, the amendments and additions to both documents had been highlighted in red.

 

It was highlighted to the Committee that the annual fees paid by premises licence holders were set by the Secretary of State and were intended to provide full cost recovery of all licensing functions including the preparation and publication of the SOLP and CIA.  Current fees produced an income of £181,500, however the annual fees had not been reviewed since the introduction of the Licensing Act in 2005 and did not cover the cost of delivering the licensing functions.  This resulted in an annual pressure on this budget of £50,700.

 

The Council was legally obliged to formally approve the adoption of its Statement of Licensing Policy and Cumulative Impact Assessment, with the former to be reviewed a minimum of every five years, and the latter to be reviewed a minimum of every three years.  Approval of the Policy would also remedy the current position of being without a Policy.

 

The Principal Licensing Officer and Public Health Officer presented the amended areas and additions (as highlighted in red) in the SOLP to the Committee, providing more detail on each of the areas.

 

During discussion, the following issues were raised:-

 

·         Reference was made to the ward boundary review currently being undertaken by the Boundary Commission and the likelihood of several wards changing significantly and it was queried how this would impact the areas identified as being subject to the CIA.  It was clarified that whilst the CIA must be reviewed every three years as a minimum, where significant changes in circumstances arose, it would be reviewed where appropriate at that point in time.

·         In response to a question regarding issues with street drinkers linked to sales of high strength and/or single cans, it was explained that Licensing and Public Health worked closely with premises identified as being linked to problems in the area and where those premises were not willing to work with responsible authorities and there was evidence that they were adding to problems in the area, a review of the premises licence could be applied for.

 

The Principal Licensing Officer wished to place on record his thanks to the Public Health Officer for her continued hard work in assisting with the preparation of the Draft Policies.

 

The Chair thanked the Officers for their presentation and put the recommendations to a vote.

 

ORDERED as follows:-

1.    That the Statement of Licensing Policy 2025-2030 and the Cumulative Impact Assessment 2025-2028 be approved.

2.    That the Licensing Committee recommend that the Statement of Licensing Policy and Cumulative Impact Assessment be ratified by Full Council.