Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED – That the Minutes of the meeting of the Licensing and Regulatory Committee held on 17 November 2017 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

There were none.

There were no declarations made.

Mike Towers thanked Committee Members for attending this extra meeting, being held purely to consider whether there was sufficient evidence to justify an 8 week consultation process looking at the potential introduction of a Cumulative Impact Area (CIA) for Leek Town Centre.

The process was to follow 5 specific steps:-

1.    Identify concerns regarding crime and disorder affecting public safety;

2.    Establish whether there is good evidence of 1. above;

3.    If so, was there a clear enough link to customers of Licensed Premises?

4.    Establish the boundaries of the planned area;

5.    Consult with all relevant bodies.

The findings of the consultation were to be reported to the next meeting of the Licensing and Regulatory Committee, scheduled for 9 March 2018. If a CIA was deemed to be appropriate, there would then be a need for a change to Council Policy to suit.

Four Staffordshire Police representatives attended the meeting:-

1.    Inspector Mark Thorley;

2.    Sergeant Rob Peacock;

3.    P.C. Andy Platt; and

4.    Lisa Roberts (Licensing Officer).

Sergeant Peacock gave a presentation via the screens giving detailed information and statistics reflecting the fact that there had been an increase in the number of people visiting the town centre on Friday and Saturday nights over the last 2 years which had led to an increase in incidents for the Police to deal with. The proposal to introduce a CIA was intended to ensure that Leek remained a nice place to live / visit.

Most town centre Licensed Premises were signed up as members of ‘Pubwatch’, which the Police were also involved with. One particularly notable increase was in the number of banned individuals, which had increased from 9 in 2015 to 11 in 2016 and to 51 in 2017. This was partly seen as a result of the Pubwatch system operating efficiently. The number was fluid, in that barrings were for a set period of time so that as they expired, the total number would fluctuate.

Member queries which were clarified during discussions were (responses in brackets):-

·         Was the C.I.A. proposed for Leek only? (Yes);

·         Had this been done elsewhere? (Yes, locally in Newcastle-under-Lyme and specific areas of Stoke on Trent);

·         Were Temporary Event Notices (TENs) covered by the proposal? (No, TENs are dealt with in a specific way, with consultees being the Police and the Environmental Health Officer. If the public had been affected by previous TENs and had complained, this was evidence against the granting of future TENs).

·         Was it possible that some of the statistical increases shown in the presentation could be unrelated to licensed premises? (Yes, this was possible. Further work would be done to try to break the figures down in this regard).

·         Was there any planned change to the way the town centre was policed as a result of the increase in barred persons? (A review was ongoing, with an increase in the use of civil remedies to problems being the focus – ‘Penalty Charge Notices’ and ‘Public Space Protection Orders’).

·         Was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

There were no questions or issues.

The date of the next meeting was to be Friday 9 March 2018 at 10am.