Meeting Details

Licensing Committee
16 Jan 2023 - 18:30 to 18:53
  • Documents
  • Attendance
  • Visitors
  • Declarations of Interests

Documents

Agenda

Meeting Details
Meetingdetails
MeetingDetailsHybrid

Members are invited to a Meeting of the Licensing Committee

to be held in the Deben Conference Room, East Suffolk House, Melton

on Monday, 16 January 2023 at 6.30pm

 

This meeting will be broadcast to the public via the East Suffolk YouTube Channel at https://youtu.be/HpS6UU1AhyY

 
Part One - Open To The Public
1 Apologies for Absence and Substitutions
2
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ashdown, Cooper, Cackett, Coulam, Craig, Goldson, Patience and Wiles. Councillor Rainger was in attendance as substitute for Councillor Goldson. 
2 Declarations of Interest

Members and Officers are invited to make any declarations of interests, and the nature of that interest, that they may have in relation to items on the Agenda and are also reminded to make any declarations at any stage during the Meeting if it becomes apparent that this may be required when a particular item or issue is considered.

3
There were no Declarations of Interest.
3 pdf Minutes (179Kb)
To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the Meeting held on 17 October 2022.
1

Upon the proposition of Councillor Hedgley, seconded by Councillor Back, the Committee 

 

RESOLVED

 
That the Minutes of the Meeting held on 17 October 2022 be agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Report of the Licensing Manager and Housing Lead Lawyer
4

The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Community Health and the Licensing Manager and Housing Lead Lawyer introduced report ES/1415 and described how East Suffolk Council was the Licensing Authority under the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003 (the Act). It issued premises licences and club premises certificates which permit licensable activities as defined by the Act. One of the licensable activities was the provision of regulated entertainment which included the exhibition of a film. The Committee heard that that all premises licences that permitted regulated entertainment in the form of the exhibition of a film had a mandatory condition relating to the admission of children to that premises. Consequently, any film not already classified must be classified by the local authority prior to being shown.

 

The Senior Licensing Officer explained that in recent months the Council had received three last-minute requests for classification, and that it was now necessary to introduce a Policy for applicants to provide 28-days’ notice which would provide certainty to applicants and the Council. The Policy would also set out the formal procedure for the Council to determine the classification of previously unclassified films, appeals by distributors against the British Board of Film Classification’s decisions, or request to reclassify films.

 

The Chairman thanked the Cabinet Member and Officers for their introduction and invited questions from Members. Councillor Newton asked if there was any reason for the increase in the number of classification requests. Officers explained that film festivals were becoming more popular and that there was greater awareness that films for exhibition had to be classified. In response to Councillor Rainger, Officers stressed that the report set out that whilst the Council would still have the option of considering late submissions on a case-by-case basis, the intention of the Policy was to establish a 28-day notice period. Councillor Fisher was unsure of the wording of clause 4.4 and Officers clarified  that the second sentence in 4.4 would be adjusted to read that ‘material should not be in breach of the criminal law including material does to be obscene under the current interpretation of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 or the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or any other relevant legislation…’

 

The Chairman invited the Committee to debate the report. Councillor Newton welcomed the introduction of the Policy, and the Committee expressed its broad support. Accordingly, Councillor Gee proposed, Councillor Hedgley seconded, the Chairman moved to the vote and the Committee unanimously

 

RESOLVED

 

To approve the draft policy for dealing with the classification of films for use immediately.

Report of the Licensing Manager and Housing Lead Lawyer
5

The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Community Health introduced report ES/1416 and in so doing thanked Committee Members for their participation in sub-committee meetings. The Senior Licensing Officer explained that of the 8 applications in consultation set out in paragraph 1.4 of the report, 7 had been granted, and one (Nisa Local, Woodbridge) would proceed to a hearing.

 

In response to Councillor Newton, Officers explained that the quantity of sub-committee hearings demonstrated the thoroughness of the Council’s approach to Licensing matters, and that applications were determined in accordance with legislation. The requirement and circumstances for public hearings was set out in legislation. The Council’s approach to hearings allowed matters to be determined individually, transparently, and fairly for all parties, rather than how some other councils approached hearings by dealing with more than one matter at the same hearing.

 

Councillors Hedgley and Gee expressed their contentment with the Council’s approach, and thanked Officers for their guidance and support, Members concurred and by the assent of the meeting, it was

 

RESOLVED

 

That the overview of some of the work of the Licensing Team and the Licensing Sub-committees during the final quarter of 2022, be noted.

Part Two - Confidential

There are no Exempt or Confidential items for this Agenda.

Meeting Documents

Declarations of Interests

Member NameItem Ref.DetailsNature of DeclarationAction
No declarations of interest have been entered for this meeting.

Visitors

Officers present: Teresa Bailey (Senior Licensing Officer), Ben Bix (Democratic Services Officer), Martin Clarke (Licensing Manager & Housing Lead Lawyer), Matt Makin (Democratic Services Officer (Regulatory))