Agenda item

Purpose: to update Members on the soon to be introduced, Police Reform & Social Responsibility Act 2011 and national consultation on the Late Night Levy and Early Morning Restriction Order provisions contained in the Act.

The Committee considered a report (Agenda Item 5) updating Members on the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 and the national consultation on the Late Night Levy and Early Morning Restriction Order provisions contained in the Act, introduced by Paul Anstey.

Paul Anstey stated officers were compiling a West Berkshire Council response to the consultation. Some elements of the proposals fell within the licensing arena. This paper, therefore, distilled those areas of direct relevance for the members’ attention.

He noted that in essence, the consultation concentrated on the way in which the licensing authority and the Police could seek to control potential problems associated with licensed premises. The proposed changes were largely in relation to: 

§         The Licensing Authority would become a Responsible Authority in relation to premises and club premises applications. This would enable the authority to make representations regarding applications and to apply for a review of a Premises Licence or Club Certificate, should it become necessary.

§         The impact on health (i.e. around alcohol) could be taken into consideration when reviewing / considering a licence.

§         Both the Police and Environmental Health Officers were able to object to a Temporary Event Notice if they considered the activities notified were likely to undermine a licensing objective.

§         The proposed introduction of a Late Night Levy would allow authorities to charge Late Night Licences to pay for the cost of extra policing during those hours. Paul Anstey noted that he did not get the sense that there was potentially a lot of money that could come from this, but some funding may be generated to help alleviate some of the problems associated with some licensed premises.

Paul Anstey said his intention was to circulate the consultation document to members and ask for their responses. Officers would collate all responses to compile and submit a West Berkshire Council response.

Councillor Edwards enquired whether the public had the opportunity to respond. Paul Anstey noted that all consultations are published online and are open to anyone to respond.

Councillor Beck noted that the Council had asked Thames Valley Police for their view on the proposals, but had as yet not received a response. Paul Anstey confirmed they had had no official Thames Valley Police view delivered to as yet. 

Councillor Beck noted the Police would be able to claim 70% of the levy, whilst the authority could claim the balance. He noted this may generate a reasonable amount of money to fund, for example, early morning street cleaning.

Paul Anstey noted there were likely to be limitations as to how any funds could be used.  Also, there were not a large number of premises in West Berkshire against which a levy could be applied, so he was keen to taper expectations about what could be achieved with a relatively small pot of money.

Amanda Ward said there were currently 75 licensed premises in West Berkshire which traded between midnight and 6.00am. However, the consultation asked what types of premises could be excluded from the levy (such as rural pubs and hotels) and in identifying likely exemptions, would bring the number of premises to which this could be applied to around 30.

RESOLVED that Paul Anstey would circulate the consultation document electronically to committee members asking for responses by 5 April. Paul Anstey would then compile a response on behalf of the Council as a whole and submit to the Home Office.