Licensing and Appeals Committee 11 November 2013
Agenda Item No_____6_______
Summary: This report provides an overview of the operation of the Act during the past 12 months.
Conclusions:
Recommendations:
Cabinet member(s): Ward(s) affected:
Councillor John Lee
Licensing Committee Chairman
All
Councillor Richard Price
Contact Officer, telephone number, and e-mail:
Chris Cawley 01263 516252
The vast majority of licensed premises in North
Norfolk are well run providing a valuable amenity for the local area and in support of the tourism economy. The economic climate continues to have a significant adverse effect on many licensed businesses.
That Members note the report and support current monitoring activities, liaison groupings and compliance initiatives
1.1. The Licensing Act 2003 became operational on 24 November 2005 when North
Norfolk District Council assumed full responsibility as the licensing authority for the sale of alcohol and regulated entertainment in North Norfolk.
1.2. Officers have prepared an annual report, in line with that prepared in previous years, covering the period Nov 2012-Oct 2013. (
).
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Licensing Team 01263 516189
Environmental Health Department
Council Offices licensing@north-norfolk.gov.uk
Holt Road
Cromer
NR27 9EN
1 Introduction
As in previous years this report is intended to give an overview of the impact of the Act and licenced premises in North Norfolk over the past year 2012/13. North Norfolk District Council has been the licensing authority for alcohol and regulated entertainment licences in North
Norfolk since November 2005
2 Licences in North Norfolk
2.1 Licence Transaction Processing
The Councils Licensing web pages are fairly comprehensive and regularly updated to facilitate self-help with licensing issues. The register of licensed premises on the website gives a comprehensive summary of the licences including those recently surrendered or suspended.
As in previous years the vast majority of applications for new licences and variations to existing licences received during the period have been unopposed and issued by officers under delegated authority. The 5 opposed cases have been considered and determined at Licensing
Sub-Committee hearings.
Applications for new Personal Licences, changes of address, replacement licences etc continue to be processed. Since Personal Licences are held in the District in which they were first issued
(irrespective of the present residence or workplace of the holder) although there is 1548
Personal Licences on the register this does not reflect the current Personal Licence holders resident or active in the District.
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2.2 Profile of Licensed Premises
Total number of Licenced premises
Licenced to sell alcohol
Licenced for regulated entertainment
Licenced to serve late night refreshment
Licensed to trade 24/7
Nov 2012 number % of
567
488
351
187
208 total
100
86
62
33
37
Nov 2013 number % of total
564 100
489
355
186
176
87
63
33
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2.3 Resource and Revenue aspects
Given the increasing demands from other aspects of licensing the proportion of time and resource available for alcohol and entertainment licensing processing has come under increasing pressure over the past year. Improvements to the service and efficiency savings have been made where possible by the licensing team and customer services officers in the
Council. An increasing number of licensing transactions have been applied for on line following development of the Government electronic licensing portal. It is no longer necessary for applicants to register with businesslink before using the portal.
Revenue income has been collected during licence processing according to the fees set by
Central Government. In addition licensed premises pay an annual fee for every year in which the premises licence continues in force. These fees have not changed since the Act was first introduced in 2005 and do not reflect the realistic costs of the licensing service.
Collection of these fees (previously administered in the Sundry Debtors section of the Council) has now been taken over by officers in the Licensing Team. Failure to pay annual fees on time now can result in licence suspension by Council officers. This is proving to be a more effective and cost efficient way of collection than the previous civil debt sanctions.
The Government has stated its intention that licensing authorities will be able to set their own fees for alcohol and entertainment licences. However the timetable for this has slipped and it is anticipated that changes in the law to enable this will not take place till 2014. Local authorities will therefore not be setting fees till the financial year 2015/16.
3 Licensing Policy and impact
The District Council reviewed and updated its Licensing Policy in December 2010 and all applications received have been processed in accordance with that Policy. The Licensing Act
2003 was based on four principle points and the impact of licensed premises in North Norfolk has been assessed according to these principles namely:-
The prevention of crime and disorder.
The prevention of public nuisance.
The protection of the public.
The protection of children from harm.
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3.1 The prevention of crime and disorder
Incidents of crime and disorder associated with licensed premises continue to be related to a relatively few venues in the towns. An increasing trend in recent years, more incidents are related to consumption of alcohol at home or in public open spaces (which has been bought sometime previously) prior to individuals visiting on-licence establishments.
3.2 The protection of the public
There have been no general safety complaints relating to safety at licensed premises in the period. Safety inspections of premises on a risk assessed basis have continued to be undertaken by officers of the Environmental Health Commercial Team. Officers of the Fire
Service have also made inspections but, given changes in fire safety law, permitted numbers and other aspects of fire Safety are not primarily dealt with under the provisions of the
Licensing Act.
The range and variety of outdoor events held across the District continues to develop as does the type and frequency of entertainment on offer. Many of these events (noticeably firework displays; fetes and some concerts) are not licensable. Monitoring of public events generally is now being undertaken by the relevant authorities working together through the North Norfolk
Safety Advisory Group.
3.3 The prevention of public nuisance
There continue to be complaints of noise nuisance from certain licenced premises. Noise nuisance has 2 aspects:
Noise from entertainment at the premises escaping from the building
Noise from patrons outside the premises. This includes noise from patrons coming and going but is also influenced by patrons congregating outside certain premises to smoke
Given the increasing deregulation of musical entertainment from the licensing provisions the ability to set conditions on licences to prevent noise nuisance is becoming difficult. Preventative advice, investigations and enforcement action have been undertaken by officers in the
Environmental Protection Team of the Council as appropriate under the provisions of the
Environmental Protection Act.
3.4 The protection of children from harm
Under age sales of alcohol
The Norfolk County Council Trading Standards Department monitor this activity. As a result of a series of test purchases in the Holt area one Personal Licence Holder has been prosecuted for making under age sales.
Morality and safety matters
As in previous years, cinema, theatre, wrestling and other adult entertainment across the district are not considered to be a problem. Despite venues regularly providing this type of entertainment, no complaints have been received by the Council
Children as performers at licensed venues - no complaints have been reported.
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3.5 Issues Raised
Loss of Established Licensed Premises
A number of established licensed premises have closed during the year. This echoes a national picture and a trend in recent years. Several others are currently up for sale. Former public houses are now converted to other uses. However there have also been new outlets becoming licensed as a way of diversifying business especially as wedding or party venues.
Some of the new microbreweries established across the District now sell alcohol by retail
The statistics do not reflect the changes taking place in many local communities losing their traditional pub; convenience store off-licence or similar venue.
Late night takeaways
These have generally not been a problem during the year.
Temporary Events and Raves
The vast majority of the 300 notified temporary events have taken place without incident or complaint. Changes to the TEN system mean greater flexibility for applicants but have broadened the control over such events. More venues previously relying on TENs having events on a regular basis have now obtained premises licences.
There was a significant unlicensed musical event (often referred to as a rave) during the year on private land in Swanton Abbot in North Norfolk. This resulted in police taking action.
However there was serious injury caused to a participant
Wedding venues
There has been a growth in premises operating as wedding venues in North Norfolk over recent years. The more commercial venues have premises licences but others have relied on
Temporary Event Notices. Given the size and frequency of such events at some venues then noise nuisance has been a problem resulting in an increasing number of reports and complaints. Officers have proactively engaged with venue owners and event organisers to establish an improved framework for such events and are monitoring the impact of such venues.
Village Halls, sports clubs and similar venues
Greater use is being made of these types of venue often for private functions.
An increasing number of reports and complaints have involved these venues in recent years generally following a hiring to third parties without adequate control or supervision. Many management committees and individuals involved in running these types of venue continue to be unclear about the licensing implications or do not have the framework in place to achieve adequate control. Officers continue to offer advice and guidance and are monitoring the impact of such venues.
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4 Compliance monitoring and Enforcement issues
4.1 Proactive inspections and surveys
As reported previously, routine checks on licenced premises for compliance with conditions are not undertaken. Initial inspections are undertaken by officers as part of new licence application or variation application determinations wherever possible. A risk based inspection programme of premises in North Norfolk is undertaken by officers of the Council’s commercial team in respect of food hygiene and for heath & safety matters including smokefree compliance. In practice the amount of work undertaken on Licence compliance monitoring and enforcement has reduced in recent years.
4.2 Reactive investigations
Investigations of reports and complaints relating to licenced premises or alleged unlicensed activities received by the Council have been investigated by appropriate officers. Action has been taken as necessary under appropriate legislation to secure compliance. Other complaints have been passed to the relevant responsible authority for possible action.
No Closure Notices have been served or prosecutions taken under the Licensing Act 2003 in respect of licensed events in North Norfolk.
There have been No Review applications during the period
4.3 Joint working
As in previous years joint visits to premises have been undertaken on a case basis where particular circumstances have warranted intervention by more than one of the responsible authorities. These have been undertaken during nighttime trading hours as well as daytime as appropriate. Intervention meetings with particular Licence holders and their advisers have taken place in respect of problem venues. This has led to successful outcomes through negotiation and education without formal enforcement action being needed.
5 Liaison and consultation issues
5.1 Nationally
Various consultations on possible revisions to licensing law were undertaken by Central
Government in 2011 and changes to the Law affecting licensed premises have been introduced in stages since.
Key changes to the Licensing Act during the past year
Deregulation now means no licence is required for the following activities to the extent that they take place between 08:00-23:00 on any day:
a performance of a play in the presence of any audience of no more than 500 people
an indoor sporting event in the presence of any audience of no more than 1,000 people
most performances of dance in the presence of any audience of no more than 500 people; and
live music, where the live music comprises: o a performance of unamplified live music
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o a performance of live amplified music in a workplace with an audience of no more than 200 people; or o a performance of live music on alcohol licensed premises which takes place in the presence of an audience of no more than 200 people, provided that a number of important conditions are satisfied.
Recent national consultations
The Government is continuing with the deregulation agenda and has 2 recent consultation exercises
Personal Alcohol Licences: enabling Targeted, Local Alternatives (September
2013)
The Government are proposing to abolish the current system of Personal Licences but provide a framework for licensing authorities to add specific conditions to premises licences to regulate training and propriety of alcohol sellers in problem premises
Consultation on a proposal to use a Legislative Reform Order to make changes to entertainment licensing (October 2013)
The key proposals are deregulation of a range of activities but will only apply to activities below which are conducted between 08:00-23:00 to minimise any risk of excess noise when the impact of noise disturbance on households is highest.
Cross-activity exemptions
The following will be exempt from entertainment licensing between
08:00-23:00 with no audience limitations: their own premises. schools on their own premises. on nondomestic premises.
Live music
A performance of live amplified music in alcohol licensed premises or in a workplace will not require specific permission where the entertainment takes place between 08:00-23:00 and the audience consists of up to 500 people. The present audience ceiling is 200 people.
Recorded music
Any playing of recorded music in alcohol licensed premises will not require specific permission where the entertainment takes place between 08:00-23:00 and the audience consists of up to 500 people.
Live and recorded music exemptions
The following events will be exempt from entertainment licensing for live and recorded music between 08:00-23:00, where the audience consists of up to 500 people:
• Activities held on local authority premises.
• Activities held on hospital and school premises.
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• Activities held in community premises.
Circuses
Tented circuses will be exempt from entertainment licensing in respect of performances of live music, the playing of recorded music, indoor sporting events and any performance of a play or dance that takes place between 08:00-23:00, with no audience limitation.
Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling
Above wrestling disciplines to be exempt from licensing, with no audience limitations, if these contests take place between 08:00-23:00.
5.2 Pub watch and Nightsafe in North Norfolk
Due to resource pressures there has been no input into these groups by council officers during the period. Indeed the groups themselves are not meeting or functioning as effectively as they were or perhaps need to. This is an area of work which would benefit from attention.
5.3 Local Communication and partnership links
The Licensing Forum for Norfolk has continued to meet quarterly. It brings together the
Licensing officers of the 7 District Councils, Norfolk Constabulary licensing team and representatives of other responsible authorities. This is working very well in exchanging information, highlighting problems and sharing training and good practice.
Relations with the Norfolk Police Licensing Team are well established and continue to operate very well despite further reduction in resources. Work has being prioritized and targeted at specific problem premises or issues on an intelligence led basis resulting in positive outcomes with local licensed premises previously causing concern..
5.4 North Norfolk Safety Advisory Group
This group has met frequently over the period considering a range of public events (licensable and non-licensable) across the district. Advice has been given to venue owners and event organisers and good practice shared. All of these events have passed off very well.
6 Conclusions
The vast majority of licensed premises in North Norfolk continue to be well run providing a valuable amenity for the local area, assisting the local economy and facilitating the tourist trade.
The economic climate is having a major adverse effect on many licensed businesses resulting in closure or diversification.
Deregulation of licence activities is having an impact but it is too soon to have a clear overall picture of this.
Problems of crime and disorder involving alcohol continue to be a problem in parts of the
District but the vast majority of this relates to alcohol originating from supermarket sales and subsequently consumed in the home or in public places.
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