Issue - meetings

Purpose: To report back on minor amendments being made to the Statement of Licensing Policy following the issuing of updated Home Office’s Statutory Guidance issued under Section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003 in January 2024, February 2025, November 2025 and February 2026.

The Committee considered a report (Agenda Item 4) concerning the minor changes being made to the Statement of Licensing Policy following the issuing of updated Home Office’s Statutory Guidance under Section 182 (S182) of the Licensing Act 2003.

The Principal Officer for Policy and Governance introduced the item and highlighted that the current policy had been adopted in November 2023 and would need to be reviewed by December 2026. The Council was also required to review the policy on an ongoing basis in light any changes, such as updates to the S182 Guidance. Since its adoption, the Government has made four such changes to the S182 Guidance.

These changes included a reversion of Temporary Event Notices (TENs) parameters to pre-COVID limits, a commitment to taking each application on its own merits, considering economic benefits when determining an application, and ensuring applications are suitable for their immediate locality. As the amendments to the Policy reflected these changes, the Committee were encouraged to adopt the recommendation.

In response to a point about the change to the TENs, the Committee noted that the Government had not increased the fees that the Licensing Authority would receive to accommodate the increased work derived from these changes.

Overall, as the Committee was satisfied with the report, they agreed to note the minor changes to the Licensing Policy.