Agenda and draft minutes

The Chair led introductions and welcome those present. 

To note any declarations of interest from the Councillors.  They are asked to indicate the relevant agenda item, the nature of the interest and in particular whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest.

Please note that the Register of Interests is available at https://www.bristol.gov.uk/councillors/members-interests-gifts-and-hospitality-register

Any declarations of interest made at the meeting which is not on the register of interests should be notified to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion.

None

Any member of the public or Councillor may participate in Public Forum.  The detailed arrangements for so doing are set out in the Public Information Sheet at the back of this agenda.  Public Forum items should be emailed to democratic.services@bristol.gov.uk and please note that the following deadlines will apply in relation to this meeting:-

Questions - Written questions must be received 3 clear working days prior to the meeting.  For this meeting, this means that your question(s) must be received in this office at the latest by 5 pm on 2 May 2019.

Petitions and Statements - Petitions and statements must be received on the working day prior to the meeting.  For this meeting this means that your submission must be received in this office at the latest by 12.00 noon on 7 May 2019.

The Statements received as Public Forum item was circulated to members and will be kept as a matter of public record.

To receive the report of Nick Carter job

Nick Carter, Regulatory Services Manager, presented the report outlining the steps to be taken to move to a wider consultation during a three month period requesting that Committee agree the following recommendation:

·       Approve the draft policy for public consultation

·       Agree the consultation period - 24^th May to 31^st August 2019

·       That Officers would amend the draft policy following the consultation and that it would be presented to Committee for formal approval

The following was noted from the discussion that followed:

a.     Members acknowledged that the report had far more substance than the report presented on the 7^th February.   

b.     A number of Members shared their concern about the information presented in the report.  They had hoped to see evidence on the known impact of a nil cap and/or information to rebut the presumption that a nil cap would drive this area underground.

c.      They were of the view that the report presented to committee sought approval for a wider consultation to allow various organisations and individuals to be given an opportunity to make their views known.  That by supporting the recommendation committee would be giving them an opportunity to do so.

d.     Members who sat on the working group shared that; they had carefully reviewed the information that was shared in the group sessions; that they approved the report, before committee, to allow for a wider consultation;  that they had worked on reviewing the existing policy noting that the policy allowed for the establishment and monitoring of such venues.

e.     Officers replied to the various question posed by members; that policy allowed for 3 venues in the areas considered appropriate; that independent of this policy, the licensing act allowed license premises to convene 11 SEV acts in a 12 month period; that collating evidence on the impact of nil cap would require extensive resourcing, liaising with enforcement authorities and other regional authorities in an attempt to ascertain what is ‘underground’; by its very nature it may prove difficult to find definitive information about Underground activities to feed into the consultation.

f.       Following a full discussion on the issues that arisen on reviewing the draft policy.

g.      It was moved that Committee support the recommendation and asked the Licensing Manager to do a specific piece of work on the issue of a nil cap.

Resolved ( 5 for and 4 against) that the recommendations outlined in the report be agreed; that Officers would during the consultation period liaise with Licensing Authorities with a nil cap in place, to seek evidence on the impact of that policy and the impact on other license venues.