Agenda item

6.1

The Committee received a report of the Chief Licensing Officer to notify Members of amendments made to the Licensing Act 2003 by the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 (PR and SR Act) as part of the Government’s alcohol reforms. It was noted that the Government had legislated via the PR and SR Act to overhaul the Licensing Act 2003 and to rebalance it in favour of local communities. These new measures were intended to give the Police and Licensing Authorities in England and Wales more local powers to tackle irresponsible premises which were consistently facilitating unacceptable levels of sales of alcohol to under 18s.

6.2

Steve Lonnia, Chief Licensing Officer, detailed a few main points within the report, including the new ability for other responsible authorities to object to Temporary Event Notices (TENs) on the grounds of any of the four licensing objectives, whereas previously, it was only the Police who could submit an objection, purely on the grounds of crime and disorder. In response to this change, Members were concerned that services, such as the Environmental Health Service would not have sufficient staffing resources to go through every individual application to identify potential problems with TEN applications, and that opportunities might be missed.

6.3

There was also a statutory requirement now to review this Act every five years, which was a positive development, as, currently, there were no legal requirements for statutory review. The Licensing Authority was now also classed as a ‘responsible authority’, which meant that it had increased powers to submit concerns about particular licensed premises. Whilst this was a further positive development, Mr. Lonnia confirmed that the Licensing Authority would endeavour not to ‘pre-judge’ any new licences, and that their interventions would always be purely evidence based.   

6.4

With regard to changes proposed for the collection of annual fees, this would hopefully yield excellent results for the Licensing Authority. The new law stated that premises could have their licences suspended if fees remained unpaid, whereas currently, there was a Licensing Officer whose time was almost fully dedicated to chasing up late and unpaid fees. Mr. Lonnia explained that to chase up non-paying licensees through the Small Claims Court cost approximately £500, and that the unpaid fee (if recovered) was usually far less than this amount. Therefore, the Licensing Authority had taken the decision not to chase up some unpaid amounts. This meant that the Licensing Authority missed out on almost £30,000 of revenue per annum. Mr. Lonnia added that the fees collected were used to cover the costs of administering the licence applications.   

6.5

Mr. Lonnia went on to report that, with regard to objecting to Licensing applications, the requirement for an ‘interested party’ to live or work in the ‘vicinity’ had been removed from the Act. Members were concerned that this might encourage certain individuals or groups to lodge complaints against numerous licensing applications, but Mr. Lonnia reassured Members that any persistent objectors (with no good reason) would be managed under the notion of them being ‘frivolous’ or ‘vexatious’. 

6.6

It would also now be the responsibility of Licensing Committee Members to determine whether the term ‘vicinity’ was applicable in each individual case. There had also been a change of wording, from the term ‘necessary’ to ‘appropriate’ in terms of the steps the Licensing Committee could take. The Licensing Solicitor explained the semantics behind this subtle change, and explained that she or another colleague would be available at Committee meetings to advise on this change where necessary.  

6.7

There would also be increased financial penalties for premises consistently selling alcohol to under 18s, with fines now of up to £20,000.

6.8

As well as the changes now detailed, Mr. Lonnia explained that there were also a number of further changes proposed to take effect from either October 2012 or April 2013. One of these was a plan for a ‘Late Night Levy’, whereby bars and clubs would have to pay for extra police resources to monitor them late at night. This money would be directed back into Police funds (75% of the fees), with options available for the remaining 25%. There would also be potential exemptions for the Levy for hotels, restaurants and takeaways.

6.9

Mr. Lonnia were on to detail proposals for Extended Early Morning Restriction Orders (EMROs), which were a power allowing Licensing Authorities to restrict sales of alcohol in the whole or part of an area for any specified period between 0300 hours and 0600 hours if this was considered appropriate for the promotion of the licensing objectives. Mr. Lonnia emphasised that the introduction of any EMRO must be evidence-based.

6.10

There were also plans for locally set fees, allowing Licensing Authorities the ability to set their own fees for licensing applications based on cost recovery. This would be a positive step forward for the Sheffield Licensing Authority, as, currently, the nationally set fees did not cover the costs of administering the system, as the fees were based on the rateable valuable of individual premises, which led to great inconsistencies. Mr. Lonnia clarified that any fees gathered in this manner could only be used to administer the processing of the application; the money could not be used for inspections, enforcements, Committee work or legal advice.

6.11

Councillors were keen that the process whereby local residents could call for the review of a particular premise was made simpler and less expensive, as, currently, it was felt that the process was set up in a way which would deter most people from pursuing the review option. 

6.12

With regard to unpaid fees, Mr. Lonnia informed Members that licences for premises would be suspended until payment was received, and that, if a licensing fee remained unpaid at a premises, the unpaid fee would stay with the venue, rather than with the licensee, so that the Licensing Authority had more chance of eventually recovering these unpaid fees.

6.13

RESOLVED: That the Committee notes the contents of the report now submitted.