Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Maskell and Renshaw.

(Attached).

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 7 March 2023 (circulated previously) be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

There were no declarations of interest announced.

Service Lead - Community Safety Partnership Officer/Harm Risk Officer to report.

The Committee received an update from the Service Lead – Community Safety Partnership/Harm Risk Officer in relation to the Community Safety Partnership.

The Committee heard the following:

·         The partnership began in 1998 after the introduction of the Crime and Disorder Act.

·         Responsible Authorities were to work together tackling crime and disorder.

·         The five responsible authorities were:

Ø  Local Authority

Ø  Police Service

Ø  NHS

Ø  Probation Service

Ø  Fire and Rescue Service

·         Commander Toby Davies was very committed to the partnership and the responsible authorities in North Devon and Torridge had very close links.

·         The partnership was based at the Freedom Centre, Barnstaple where there was a Police presence but not every day.

·         In 2007 regulations were passed whereby an annual assessment report had to be published breaking down each area tackled by the partnership.  Ideas were also put forward for how harm could be reduced in the year ahead.

·         Prevention action was the best method used in Devon – activities such as gangs was not as prevalent in Devon as it was in cities.

·         There were many non-statutory partners in the partnership such as:

Ø  Drugs and Alcohol in North Devon

Ø  North Devon Against Domestic Abuse

Ø  Devon Domestic Abuse Service

Ø  Voluntary Services with different inputs for particular issues.

·         Other Statutory duties included:

Ø  Serious violence

Ø  Domestic homicide reviews

Ø  Prevent duty – to prevent radicalisation, interventions put in place to divert people away from this activity.  People on the autistic spectrum were particularly vulnerable and featured heavily in this area of work.

Ø  North Devon work closely with Torridge District Council’s CSP.

Ø  Safe Devon was a Devon wide partnership

Ø  Worked with Torbay’s Safety Partnership

Ø  Youth Crime prevention partnership

Ø  Domestic abuse partnership.

·         Meetings also took place with counterparts across Devon to discuss issues arising at a County level.

·         A prescribed structure was followed when dealing with Anti-Social behaviour (ASB).  An ASB steering group met monthly, the meeting was in two parts with a pre-meeting open to the public and Members where issues and particular problems can be discussed.  A second meeting is held where those issues raised at the pre-meeting were put to the partners.  A Police Licensing Officer attended these second partner meetings so any issues relating to premises licences could be taken to a pre-meeting to be forwarded onto him.

·         Public Space Protection Orders were in place both in Barnstaple and Ilfracombe towns which gave Officers the power to take alcohol away from people and to stop people from urinating in public.

·         In November a meeting was held jointly with Torridge District Council which all members of the Licensing Committee attended along with Toby Davies and other partners of the CSP to present their annual statement.

·         26 July 2023 training on Modern Day Slavery and County Lines was being held and Members were invited to attend.

·         An open invite to attend the Freedom Centre was extended to the Committee.

Public Protection Manager to report.

The Committee received a presentation from the Public Protection Manager in relation to the work of the Licensing and Community Safety Committee.

The Public Protection Manager introduced herself and asked the Members to introduce themselves and which Ward they represented.

The Public Protection Manager gave the Committee the following information:

·         There were 2000+ personal licences issued in North Devon.

·         600+ premises licences, with a high proportion of those premises being in Barnstaple and Ilfracombe.

·         The Licensing Act 2003 policy covering these areas was due for review and Members of the Committee would consider a report with suggested amendments in 2023.

·         Burger vans, festivals were covered with licences.

·         Around 400 Temporary Event Notices (TENs) were issued per annum, where events of up to 499 people could attend.

·         Activities such as gaming machines, betting shops were covered with policies that would, when due for review, be presented to the Committee for consideration.

·         An Animal Licensing policy was recently introduced (October 2022) and this covered dog breeding, pet shops, horse riding, exhibiting animals, and zoos etc.  The legislation was very prescriptive in respect of this area and there was a star rating system similar to the score on the door type scheme for certain licences. 

·         The Health and Safety Team covered the registration and regulation of food premises.

·         Officers would act on complaints made about unregulated activity.

·         The Licensing team also covered the taxi and private hire trade with approximately 300 licensed drivers and 200 licensed vehicles.

·         Our Policy for taxis and Private hire vehicles gave the Council a good level of compliance with the Department for Transport’s guidance.

·         The Council would be responsible for pleasure boat licences but there were none currently issued in North Devon.

·         The Licensing team regulated sex shops and sexual entertainment venues.  Although there were currently none in the North Devon area.  The Policy would be due for review soon and brought to Committee for consideration.

·         Scrap metal sites and collectors were regulated by way of licence.

·         The North Devon Council website published a vast amount of information in relation to all areas of Licensing activities carried out by the Council.

·         A lot of information and the Policies in place for all aspects of licensing that the Council was responsible for was published on the North Devon Council website.

The Public Protection Manager displayed the website on the screen for the Committee to view and navigated around the site highlighting the information available to view.  Pavement licences, which came in as a result of the Covid pandemic was due to expire at the end of September 2023 and it was not yet known whether there may be a further extension to this temporary measure running along those granted by Devon County Council.

The Committee considered a report by the Head of Governance, (circulated previously) regarding the Alternative Arrangements for the Appointment of Sub-Committees 2023.

The Corporate and Community Services Officer highlighted the following:

·         That the allocation of members to the Sub-Committees could change and that Chairs were not appointed ahead of the hearing being arranged.

·         Substitute members were no longer designated, if the need for a substitute arose the hearing would be adjourned or continue, with the applicants permission, with just two members.

·         If a Member of a Sub-Committee found themselves to have a conflict of interests then they should notify the Licensing and Community Services clerk as soon as possible so an alternative Member could be found to sit on the Sub-Committee.

RESOLVED that:

(a)  Five Sub-Committees, each with three Members with the delegated powers as detailed in Appendix A of this report be appointed;

(b)  Alternative arrangements be made for the appointment of Members of the Sub-Committees of the Licensing and Community Safety Committee in accordance with the powers set out in S17 of the Housing and Local Government Act 1989 and the provisions of the Local Government (Committees and Political Groups) Regulations 1990;

(c)  The alternative arrangements provide that the membership of the Sub-Committees of the Licensing and Community Safety Committee be not politically balanced;

(d)  Members be appointed to the Sub-Committees as detailed in Appendix A of the report;

(e)  A Member be selected by Corporate and Community Services to act as a Substitute Member for each Sub-Committee meeting should the need arise for a Substitute; and

(f)   The appointed Sub-Committees be restricted in that they may not further delegate any of their powers to an Officer of the Council or any other body.

To consider and adopt the minutes of the following meetings (attached):

(a)  Licensing and Community Safety Sub-Committee D: 27 January 2023

(b)  Licensing and Community Safety Sub-Committee A: 29 March 2023

(c)  Licensing and Community Safety Sub-Committee B: 23 March 2023

(d)  Licensing and Community Safety Sub-Committee C: 28 April 2023

RESOLVED that the minutes of the following Licensing and Community Safety Sub-Committees (circulated previously) be approved as correct records of those meetings:

(a)  Licensing and Community Safety Sub-Committee D of 27 January 2023.

(b)  Licensing and Community Safety Sub-Committee A of 29 March 2023.

(c)  Licensing and Community Safety Sub-Committee B of 23 March 2023.

(d)  Licensing and Community Safety Sub-Committee C of 28 April 2023.