Agenda and draft minutes

The Chair welcomed all Members to the meeting.

None.

None.

It was proposed by Councillor Gwyn James and seconded by Councillor Keith Evans and unanimously RESOLVED that Councillor Paul Hinge be elected Chairman of the for the Committee for the remaining 2022/23 and 2023/24 municipal year.

Elect a Vice -Chairman for the Committee for the remaining 2022/23 and

2023/24 municipal year

It was proposed by Councillor Paul Hinge and seconded by Councillor John Roberts and unanimously RESOLVED that Councillor Gwyn James be elected Vice-Chairman of the for the Committee for the remaining 2022/23 and 2023/24 municipal year.

It was RESOLVED to confirm as a true record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 06 October 2022.

Consideration was given upon the Report on the General update. The report had been presented in order to update Members on relevant matters, with regard to the Licensing Act 2003 and the Gambling Act 2005.

The following update was provided on Licensing Act 2003 Associated Matters:-

• Contested Applications (Reviews/Appeals) 
• Licensing SAVI (Security and Vulnerability Initiative)
• Revised Guidance issued under section 182 of Licensing Act 2003
• Consultation – Extension of licensing hours King Charles coronation
• Licensing Annual Performance – General Report

The Trading Standards & Licensing Manager requested Members feedback on the panels held virtually. Members had concern that there were connection issues at one of the panels and stated that the panels should be held in person. In response, the Corporate Manger – Democratic Services stated that her service was unable to support a hybrid system for these panels, and stated due to budget constraints and the Corporate Strategy to reduce the Carbon footprint, that these meeting should be held on zoom only. If there were technical difficulties, the meeting should be adjourned.

It was AGREED to

(i) note the report for information;

(ii) note that since the agenda was published the White paper on the Written Statement: Consultation on the Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle (PHV) (Wales) Bill had been published on the 09 May 2023. The Service would be preparing for a response and a panel of Members would be requested to consider the response prior to submitting to Welsh Government. All Members of the Committee would received a copy of the response;

(iii) that it had been announced at the Spring Budget 2023, the government would increase the duty rates under the revised duty structure for alcohol products being introduced from 1 August 2023 in line with the Retail Price Index (RPI). This includes all alcoholic products produced in, or imported into, the UK.The government would also increase the value of Draught Relief from 5% to 9.2% for qualifying beer and cider products and from 20% to 23% for qualifying wine, other fermented products (previously made-wine) and spirits. All changes will take effect from 1 August 2023.

(vi) that the presentation on the Licensing SAVI (Security and Vulnerability Initiative) be circulated to all Members for information via Democratic Services and that the Council should promote this initiative, the Communication Team be also informed of the initiative in order to infom the public via social media

(v) that the planning service be informed of the new legislation Agent of Change” principle in 14.66 and that Members of the Licensing Committee would also receive training on planning issues that impacted licensing and vice versa

Consideration was given to the report on Martyn’s Law – Protect Duty. The    following information was provided:-

• Background
• What would Martyn’s Law do?
• Which Premises/Locations would be included?
• How would it work?
• What about locations run by volunteers?
• Would this affect accessibility?
• How would Martyn’s Law be enforced?

Following questions from floor, and views on the bureaucracy burden on volunteers, it was AGREED to note the report for information.