Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Will Salmon and Catherine Young.

In accordance with the local Code of Conduct, a councillor is required to disclose at the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI) that they may have in respect of any matter for consideration on this agenda.  Any councillor with a DPI must notparticipate in any discussion or vote regarding that matter and they must also withdraw from the meeting immediately before consideration of the matter.

If that DPI has not been registered, the councillor must notify the Monitoring Officer of the details of the DPI within 28 days of the date of the meeting.

Councillors are further invited to disclose any non-pecuniary interest which may be relevant to any matter on this agenda, in the interests of transparency, and to confirm that it will not affect their objectivity in relation to that matter.

There were no disclosures of interest declared.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Licensing Committee held on 26 May 2021.

The minutes of the Licensing Committee held on 26 May 2021 were approved and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any announcements from the Chairman of the Committee.

The Chairman had no announcements to make.

The Committee noted that the Licensing of Sex Establishments: Statement of Licensing Policy 2022-25 went to consultation for a 6-week period between 5 July and 20 August 2021.  One consultation response was received during that time and no changes were required to be made to the policy as a result.

The Committee having considered the report;

RESOLVED to recommend that the Executive approved the draft Licensing of Sex Establishments Statement of Licensing Policy 2022-25 at its meeting on 26 October 2021.

The Committee noted that the Business and Planning Act 2020 enacted in July 2020 sought to assist the hospitality industry recover from the first Covid 19 lockdown by making it easier for premises to serve food and drink outdoors through temporary changes to planning procedures and alcohol licensing. 

On 20 July 2021, the Government extended the Pavement Licences until 30 September 2022 under the Business and Planning Act 2020 (Pavement Licences) (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2021. 

The Committee noted that in Guildford, the provision of outdoor food had become very popular with some 40 pavement licences being issued for the town.  The Government was also committed to making pavement licences a more permanent feature so that the application process was governed by Boroughs and Districts rather than at County level as had been the case previously.  Bars and restaurants had to renew their pavement licence by 30 September 2021 and Guildford had therefore experienced an influx of applications to process.  The Committee agreed that the pavement licences had introduced a new vibrancy to Guildford and was therefore fully supportive of the Pavement Licence extension.

The Committee having discussed the report;

RESOLVED to note the extension of the Business and Planning Act for the licenced trade and approved the extension of the current Pavement Licensing Policy.

The Committee discussed its work programme and noted that the item in relation to Best Bar None may need to be re-scheduled from November owing to the fact that it might not be running at that point. 

The Chairman requested that the item regarding ‘The Fit and Proper Test for Managers of Licensed Caravan Sites’, also scheduled for November, included additional background information as the Committee had not considered this issue previously.