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.

The following disclosures of interests were made:

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Licensing Committee held on 5 August 2024.

The minutes of the meeting of the Licensing Committee held on 5 August 2024 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/083 of the Head of Community Services.

The Committee considered report HCS/083 of the Head of Community Services.  The Health, Safety and Licensing Manager presented the report, which set out the Council’s proposed Animal Licensing Policy.  It was heard that there was no policy currently in place to cover the Council’s animal licensing activities, and although it was not a statutory requirement to have a policy, it was considered good practice to do so.  The proposed policy had been created in accordance with the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018.  The Committee was requested to endorse the draft policy, agree to begin a public consultation, and agree to adopt the policy from 1 February 2025 (taking into account feedback received via the consultation).

The Committee then discussed the matter.  In general, Committee members were supportive of the Council having an Animal Licensing Policy and agreed that the proposed policy would help to drive up standards in the sector.  Further information was sought about how the policy had been evidenced, and the Health, Safety and Licensing Manager confirmed that it had been based on legislation, Government guidance via the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), and local best practice as shared at a multi-agency East and West Sussex animal licensing group.

Committee members discussed the star rating system for licence holders and sought further information about the scoring matrix used to determine those ratings.  The Health, Safety and Licensing Manager explained that the scoring matrix was designed by DEFRA for use by licensing authorities.  The Council already employed the star rating system; its inclusion in the policy was merely to formalise the procedure.  A Committee member asked whether it was a requirement for licence holders to display their star ratings publicly – it was explained that it was preferred for commercial licence holders to do so but was not a requirement as the display of a rating sticker may be a safety risk to some licensees (for example, those operating from residential properties that do not wish to advertise the breeding of high value animals).  The Committee discussed the possibility of formally including within the policy a requirement to display star ratings.

A Committee member highlighted that on previous occasions, councillors had discussed the possible introduction of a ban on animals being used in circuses and as prizes on Council-owned land.  Several councillors had expressed support for this ban and considered it cruel to use animals in such a way.  Although the Council was not currently likely to allow this on its own land, it was felt that the ban should be formalised.  The Committee discussed the possible inclusion of this in the Animal Licensing Policy. 

The Health, Safety and Licensing Manager also made the following clarifications in response to queries from Committee members:

·       Neither dog walking nor puppy farms were regulated by the proposed policy, but instead fell to other regulatory powers such as the making of Public Spaces Protection Orders and legislation respectively.

·       The fixed penalty notices (FPNs  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.