Agenda item

Report of the Environmental Health Team Manager

Having declared a pecuniary interest, Councillor M B Wyatt left the meeting prior to consideration of this item and took no part in the discussion or voting thereon.

The Environmental Health Team Manager presented the report to members, highlighting the requirements for review of the statement of licensing policy and the cumulative impact policy.

The Environmental Health Team Manager outlined the changes made to the existing statement of licensing policy having had regard to the national statutory guidance issued by the Home Office and to reflect the local profile of the district. 

The Environmental Health Team Manager advised members that the assessment undertaken in respect of the cumulative impact policy had shown that alcohol related crime in Ashby de la Zouch had stabilised since 2012, however it had been concluded that granting further licences would not be conducive to the promotion of the licensing objectives and therefore it was recommended to retain the cumulative impact policy.  He outlined the various issues that could be covered by a cumulative impact policy, such as operating times, types of premises or types of licence.  He advised that it was recommended to apply the policy to all types of premises, as being prescriptive could lead to being unable to apply the policy as intended.  It was also recommended that the policy should apply only in licensed premises between 8pm and 6am as the data showed a spike in crime between those times.  Finally it was recommended to retain the existing geographical area for the cumulative impact policy.  Leicestershire Police had suggested that the area be extended to include the Wetherspoons public house, however after having considered the crime statistics which showed that there were 14 crimes associated with the premises in 6 years, officers were of the opinion that the premises was well managed and therefore it would be wrong to extend the area to include that public house.

In response to a question from Councillor T Eynon, the Environmental Health Team Manager advised that there were less than a handful of late night levies in operation and these had not proven to be successful, even in areas such as Manchester and London.  He added that the Police had not expressed a desire to implement a late night levy and cumulative impact policies were more targetted in that they did not penalise premises which were not contributing to the negative impact.

In response to questions from Councillor J Clarke, the Environmental Health Team Manager explained that he could not comment on police resourcing.  He advised that Wetherspoons had not yet responded to the email seeking their comments on the request to extend the cumulative impact zone.  He outlined the process that would be followed should there ever be any cause for concern regarding the premises.

In response to questions from Councillor V Richichi, the Environmental Health Team Manager advised that in terms of compliance, it could be difficult to attribute a crime to specific premises.  The highest number of crimes were found where there was the highest concentration of people.  He added that no premises were consistently breaching their licensing conditions and action would be taken if this was the case.

Members felt that the existing policy worked well and saw no reason to include the Wetherspoons public house at this time.

It was moved by Councillor J Hoult, seconded by Councillor J G Coxon and

RESOLVED THAT:

a)        The statement of licensing policy be recommended to Council for approval at its meeting on 26 February 2019.

b)        The retention of the cumulative impact policy relating to Ashby de la Zouch town centre be recommended to Council for approval at its meeting on 26 February 2019.