Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that Councillor R. J. Deeming be elected Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing municipal year.

RESOLVED that Councillor P. J. Whittaker be elected Vice-Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing municipal year.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors A. B. L. English, C. J. Spencer and M. Thompson, with Councillor S. Webb in attendance as the substitute Member for Councillor M. Thompson.

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the Licensing Committee held on 14^th March 2022 were submitted.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Licensing Committee held 14^th March 2022, be approved as a correct record.

The Committee considered a report on the previously adopted Sex Establishment Licensing Policy, adopted by the Council on 1^st April 2016.

The Principal Officer (Licensing), Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS), introduced the report and in doing highlighted that where a Council had adopted such a policy that it was best practice to review the policy periodically.  The current policy was adopted in April 2016 and officers were of the view that the policy should now be reviewed.  A draft revised version of the policy was detailed at Appendix 2 to the report.

Members were informed that The Local Government (Miscellaneous

Provisions) Act 1982 (“the Act”), as amended, allowed local authorities to

adopt provisions concerning the regulation of sex establishments. Under the

Act there was no legal requirement for the Council to adopt a policy on how it

proposed to license sex establishments under the Act. However, it was

considered best practice for a Council to adopt such a policy to encourage

consistency and transparency in the way that its licensing functions were

carried out.

Members’ attention was drawn to the Service / Operational Implications, as detailed on pages 8 and 9 of the main agenda report.

The Principal (Licensing) Officer, WRS highlighted that, as detailed in the

preamble above and in the report, that since the existing policy had been in

place for more than six years, officers considered that now would be an

appropriate time for the policy to be reviewed and for a revised version of the

policy to be adopted.

Officers had therefore reviewed the existing policy and a draft revised version

was attached at Appendix 2 to the report.  The draft revised version had been

highlighted to show where the document had been revised from the current

policy.

The majority of the revisions were minor in nature and had been made to ensure

that the document was up to date; and as clear and easy to understand as was 

possible.

The draft revised policy had been amended to update the foreword at the

beginning of the document so that it reflected the current vision as set out in the

Council Plan.

The draft revised policy had also been updated to reflect the renaming of the

Local Safeguarding Children Board as Worcestershire Safeguarding Children

Partnership.

The level of fines applicable in respect of various offences set out in the relevant

legislation had been amended to reflect changes made to these since the

current policy was approved.

Officers are now asking Members to direct them to carry out consultation with

relevant stakeholders and the general public on the draft revised policy shown

at Appendix 2 to the report.

Members were further informed that, following consultation, any responses

received would be brought back to a future meeting of the Committee for

Members to consider; with a view to adopting the revised policy.

Members thanked the Principal (Licensing) Officer, WRS for a detailed report

and for highlighting the amendments in the draft revised Sex Establishment

Licensing Policy, as detailed at  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6/22

The Principal (Licensing) Officer, WRS, provided members with a licensing

legislative update.

Members were informed that, Bromsgrove District Council was responsible for

delivering a number of licensing functions regulating a broad range of

businesses and activities undertaken in the Council’s administrative area.

The licensing legislative update report would provide Members of the Council’s Licensing Committee with an update on legislation that had been made or that had been proposed, which would impact on the Council’s licensing responsibilities.

Members’ attention was drawn to the following, as detailed in the report: -

·         Introduction of Tax Checks for Certain Licences

·         Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding & Road Safety) Act 2022

·         Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Disabled Persons) Act 2022

·         The Future of Pavement Licensing

·         Potential Transfer of Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Functions to Upper-Tier Authorities

·         Licensing Scheme for non-surgical cosmetic procedures

The Principal (Licensing) Officer, WRS responded to a number of questions with regard to Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles (WAV’s), and in doing so stated that it was important to keep raising public awareness on taxi fares and how to complain if overcharged or a poor service was provided.

In response to questions with regard to Pavement Licensing and Street Amenity Licensing, Members were informed that Pavement Licensing allowed the licence holder to place removable furniture over certain highways adjacent to the premises in relation to which an application was made.

The Council’s Street Amenity Policy covered specific areas for the placing of street furniture, adjacent to, or very near the premises applied for on the High Street and these areas were listed in the Street Amenity Policy.

In response to further questions on non-surgical procedures, Members were further informed that the licensing scheme would focus on certain non-surgical cosmetic procedures such as the injection of Botox and dermal fillers. These procedures had not been regulated and people had been disfigured.

The licensing scheme would introduce consistent standards that individuals

carrying out non-surgical cosmetic procedures would have to meet, as well as

hygiene and safety standards for premises. It would focus on those cosmetic

procedures which, if improperly performed, had the potential to cause harm, as

referred to above, Botox and derma fillers.

The implementation of a scheme had been facilitated by the inclusion of

provisions in the Health and Care Act 2022 which enabled the Secretary of

State to use secondary legislation to introduce a scheme to licence specified

cosmetic procedures.

It was anticipated that any licensing scheme that was introduced would be

overseen by local authorities and that in two-tier areas like Worcestershire, the

function would rest with the relevant district Council.

The Government had committed to carry out consultation on the form of the

licensing scheme, including what cosmetic procedures would require licences

to be in place.

RESOLVED that the Licensing Legislative update report, be noted.

The Committee noted the Licensing Committee Work Programme for 2022/2023.