Agenda and minutes

Members are asked to declare any interests in the items under consideration and in doing so state:

(1) the type of interest concerned; and

(2) the nature of the interest concerned

If any member requires advice on declarations of interests, they are advised to contact the Head of Democratic Services in advance of the meeting.

Councillor I Coleman declared that he was President of Blackpool Royal British Legion.

To agree the minutes of the last meeting held on 8^th May 2014 as a true and correct record.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 8^th May 2014, be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Members are requested to consider the constitution of a Public Protection Sub- Committee for the Municipal Year 2014/2015.

Members considered the constitution of a Public Protection Sub-Committee for the forthcoming Municipal Year. 

Resolved: 

1. That a politically balanced Public Protection Sub-Committee would be constituted with a membership of 7 (5 Labour and 2 Conservative).
2. To note that the membership would be Councillors G Coleman, Doherty, Hutton, O’Hara, Mrs Taylor. Cox and Mrs Delves.
3. That the functions assigned to the Public Protection Sub-Committee would continue to be those as set out in Part 3 of the Council’s Constitution.
4. That the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Public Protection Sub-Committee would be Councillors Hutton and O’Hara respectively.

Background papers:  None

The Committee to receive an update on licences applied for, dealt with and appealed for the period January to May 2014

Mrs Davies, Principal Solicitor Licensing, provided the Committee with an update on the work undertaken by the Licensing Service in the period from 1^st January 2014 to 31^st May 2014.  She reported that 18 applications for new premises licences had been granted as no objections had been received, one application had been refused by a Licensing Panel and four applications were currently in process, two of which had Licensing Panel hearings scheduled in the near future.  

Members were further advised that a total of 19 applications to review a premises licence had been received and of these, 10 licences had been revoked due to the premises no longer trading. 

Mrs Davies updated the Committee on the outcome of recent Licensing Panel hearings for the Empress Hotel and Underbar.

Following concerns raised by the Committee regarding the granting of premises licences for a particular type of premises, Mrs Davies explained that legislation dictated that licences had to be granted if no objections had been received.  Members were advised of the options for making representations on applications either personally or through the Licensing Authority.

Resolved:  That the update on licences considered and dealt with be noted.

Background papers:  None

To receive an update on the work of the Licensing Enforcement team.

Mr Marshall, Licensing Health and Safety Enforcement Manager, updated the Committee on recent activities undertaken by the Council’s Enforcement Team.

Mr Marshall provided Members with information on the education provided to licence holders to improve the standard of management of licensed premises across the town.  He also reported on new initiatives that had been introduced which included the process for testing Alcohol By Volume (ABV) limits to identify non-genuine products.

The Committee was informed of the introduction of the Blackpool Licensing Plan which adopted a multi-agency approach to tackle issues identified in three key problem areas within the town.  The results from the Plan were expected to be available by December 2014.

Mr Marshall presented Members with an overview of enforcement activities that had been undertaken and actions taken to ensure compliance.

Following the presentation, the Chairman, on behalf of the Committee expressed its appreciation to Mr Marshall and the Enforcement Team for their hard work.

Resolved:  That the update on enforcement activities be noted.

Background papers:  None