Agenda and draft minutes

In accordance with the Council's Code of Conduct, councillors are reminded that it is a requirement to declare interests where appropriate.

No disclosures of interests were made.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Licensing Committee held on 12 December 2023.

The minutes of the meeting of the Licensing Committee held on 12 December 2023 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To answer any questions asked by the public which relate to an item on this agenda and which are in line with the Council’s Constitution.

Public Question Time will be concluded by the Chair when all questions have been answered or on the expiry of a period of 15 minutes, whichever is the earlier.

There were no questions from members of the public.

To consider report HCS/074 of the Head of Community Services.

The Committee considered report HCS/074 of the Head of Community Services.  The Health, Safety and Licensing Team Leader presented the report, which set out the draft Statement of Licensing Policy for the period 2024-2029; the version of which had incorporated feedback received via the consultation that had taken place since the Committee last considered the draft Policy.  The Committee was asked to note the updated version of the Policy and suggest any changes ahead of it being submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Commission, Cabinet, and Full Council.

The Committee then discussed the matter, and in doing so agreed that the Policy was a detailed and extensive piece of work.  Clarification was sought as to the businesses that had been consulted on the draft Policy.  It was confirmed that all licensed premises within the borough had been invited to provide feedback through the consultation, and a training session provided by West Sussex County Council covering child sexual exploitation and modern slavery within the context of licensed premises had been arranged which approximately 40 businesses attended.  The event would be repeated in the future for those that could not attend.

A Committee member noted the elements of the Policy that sought to prevent people trafficking and praised the changes proposed to include the topic.  The Licensing Officer confirmed that the Council required licensed drivers to undertake safeguarding and child sexual exploitation prevention training, which was considered to be best practice.  Crawley Borough Council was one of the first licensing authorities to incorporate this into its Policy.

It was requested that the Licensing Officer provide more details about any cumulative impact policy (CIP) in the borough.  It was confirmed that there were currently none in operation, but a CIP could be requested by Sussex Police who would be required to provide evidence that a high volume of crime or disorder was associated with the grouping of one type of licensed premises in a certain area.  At present the ‘Stronger, Safer Crawley’ partnership was positively impacting on crime and disorder in the High Street area of the town centre.

It was highlighted by a Committee member that including links to webpages within the Policy could lead to access issues if those links changed in the future.  The Licensing Officer confirmed that the document would be kept under review to ensure that all information remained accurate.

RESOLVED

That the Committee:

(a)   Considers the responses received as part of and following the consultation;

(b)   Endorses the proposed revised Statement of Licensing Policy 2024–2029 (included at Appendix B to report HCS/074), including providing suggestions, if required, to be included in the final report that will be considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Commission and the Cabinet prior to submission to the Full Council for adoption.