Issue - meetings

(a)     That Members considered and approved the changes made to the Draft Policy following a period of consultation; and

(b)     That Members of the Licensing Committee approved the Draft Policy in preparation for final approval at Full Council.

The Licensing Team Manager, when introducing the report, confirmed that it was a requirement under the Licensing Act 2003 to review the Statement of Licensing Policy every 5 years.  The last review was undertaken in December 2015.   The Draft Policy for 2021-2026 was attached which included responses following a period of consultation. This document, once approved by the Licensing Committee, would then be presented to full Council for final approval.

            A thorough review was undertaken with officers from other North Wales Local Authorities taking into account any relevant changes in legislation, guidance and good practice which enabled consistency across the region wherever possible.  The Licensing Team Manager explained that the six counties in North Wales were all different but the Licensing Policies were in the same format and could be amended to accommodate the needs of each Local Authority.   The Draft Statement of Licensing Policy for the period December 2021 to December 2026 was shown at Appendix A with the original changes prior to consultation shown in red and the changes made following consultation shown in blue.  She then provided a summary of the changes which she had made.

            The Licensing Team Manager then referred to the consultation process and confirmed that the correct consultation procedure was followed.  Two responses had been received from a representative of Public Health Wales and a representative for Premises Licence Holders.  The details of the consultation responses and the Licensing Authority’s consideration of those responses were shown at Appendix B.

            The Chair referred Members to the Statement of Licensing Policy and proceeded to go through the document page by page, asking if Members had any specific questions.

            Councillor Lloyd referred to point 3.4 of the Licensing objectives which referred to the provision of first aid equipment and first aid rooms in larger venues and asked should it be made compulsory that defibrillators be available, rather than a consideration.  In response, the Licensing Team Manager confirmed that this was highlighted in blue as had been changed following a comment received from a representative of licensed premises.  The representative felt it was too onerous as whilst there were defibrillators in the community Flintshire only had one nightclub.  She confirmed that the policy would only affect new licences and not existing ones as they were bound by the licensing policies in place when they applied.

            In response to a question from Councillor Small, the Licensing Team Manager confirmed there were no proposed changes to the temporary events notice process.

            Responding to a question from Councillor White on the consultation timeline, the Licensing Team Manager provided an overview of the process.  She explained that the length of time was extended to allow extra time to enable those representatives who had annual shutdowns in August to respond.  When the document was circulated, the changes were highlighted in red to make it easier for responses.

            The Licensing Team Manager then proceeded to go through each of the Respondents’ comments received following the consultation which was shown at Appendix B on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8