APPROVED Minute of Joint Licensing Board and Forum - 14 November 2023 v2
West Dunbartonshire Council · 14 November 2023
Back to Licensing Board — 14 November 2023 and its agenda
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JOINT MEETING OF WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE LICENSING BOARD AND LOCAL LICENSING FORUM At a Hybrid Joint Meeting of West Dunbartonshire Licensing Board and Local Licensing Forum held in the Civic Space, 16 Church Street, Dumbarton on Tuesday, 14 November 2023 at 2.00 p.m. Present: West Dunbartonshire Councillors Gurpreet Singh Johal, June McKay (Chair of West Dunbartonshire Licensing Board), Chris Pollock and Hazel Sorrell. Paul Smith, Premises Operator for late night Entertainment (Chair of Licensing Forum) Peter Clyde, Licensing Standards Officer (LSO) West Dunbartonshire Council Lawrence Knighton, Licensing Standards Officer (LSO), West Dunbartonshire Council Pauline Orr Larking, Bonhill and Dalmonach Community Council Craig McLaughlin, Personal/Premises License Holder Arun Thapar, Personal/Premises License Holder John Struthers, Representative of Members Clubs Ryan Hegarty, Representative for Pubwatch Members Ronnie McColl, Personal/Premises License Holder Attending: Chris Kelly, Health Improvement Lead - Health and Social Care Partnership; Michael McDougall, Depute Clerk to the Licensing Board, West Dunbartonshire Council and Nicola Moorcroft and Lynn Straker, Committee Officers. Apologies: Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Councillor Lawrence O’Neill (West Dunbartonshire Council), Sergeant David Holmes, Police Scotland and Isobel Plunkett, Representative of Old Kilpatrick Community Council. Paul Smith in the Chair Mr Smith, Chair of Licensing Forum, welcomed everyone to the joint meeting. OPERATION OF THE LICENSING (SCOTLAND) ACT 2005 DURING THE PREVIOUS 12 MONTH PERIOD Mr Smith, Chair and Mr McDougall, Depute Clerk to the Licensing Board advised Members of the reason for the annual joint meeting of the Licensing Board and Licensing Forum and also discussed the operation of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 during the last 12 months.
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RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LICENSING BOARD AND LICENSING FORUM Members considered the relationship between the Licensing Board and the Licensing Forum during the previous 12 month period and the shared outcome of the new Licensing Policy for the future. Mr McDougall emphasised the value of having the Licensing Forum feed into the Licensing Board and gaining a well-rounded perspective from various representatives in West Dunbartonshire. SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT CONSULTATION: MINIMUM UNIT PRICING – CONTINUATION AND FUTURE PRICING Mr McDougall noted that the Scottish Government was consulting on the continuation of minimum unit pricing and if continued, the future setting of a minimum unit price. Mr McDougall undertook to keep both the Licensing Board and Licensing Forum up to date. UPDATE FURTHER TO THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT’S TRAINING/AWARENESS RAISING SESSION Mr McDougall provided a verbal update in relation to the Scottish Government's efforts to further support local Licensing Forums on a non-legislative basis. MEETING OF THE LICENSING FORUM The meeting of the Licensing Forum convened at 2.21 p.m. with all those listed in the sederunt present with the exception of Councillors Gurpreet Singh Johal and Hazel Sorrell, West Dunbartonshire Council. Paul Smith in the Chair MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING The Minutes of the Meeting of the Licensing Forum held on 29 August 2023 were submitted and approved as a correct record. PROPOSAL FOR NEW MEMBER OF WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE LICENSING FORUM The Licensing Standards Officers submitted a proposal for a new Member of West Dunbartonshire Licensing Forum - Mr Ryan Hegarty.
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After discussion, Members of the Forum agreed to accept Mr Hegarty as a new Member of the Forum as a Representative for Pubwatch Members. LICENSING STANDARDS OFFICERS – UPDATE The Licensing Standards Officers provided a verbal update on issues and events that may be of interest to the Forum, highlighting the following:- • Festive Extensions to trade in December; • Festive visits - upcoming inspections of high street on sales, festive vigilance particularly with large supermarkets display areas; • Assisting premises which has been having various issues; and • Annual Fees - collection of annual fees going well, 38 reminder letters issued recently, compliance notices will be issued to premises who have failed to pay. UPDATE FROM POLICE SCOTLAND In his absence, the following update was provided by Sergeant David Holmes, Police Scotland, on policing in the West Dunbartonshire area:- Activity within West Dunbartonshire since our last meeting at the end of August 2023, nothing significant to report in respect of the operation of licensed premises within West Dunbartonshire nor had the requirement to carry out any formal intervention work during this period. We do continue to work in partnership with WDC Licensing Standards Officer’s, to support the operation of premises within the area, through such initiatives as Pubwatch etc., ensuring licensed premises continue to be operated in a manner consistent with the 5 key Licensing Objectives. Since the last meeting, Police Scotland has conducted no fewer than 76 licensed inspections within West Dunbartonshire, supporting the licensing trade and night time economy with an overt presence to detect and deter offences and continue this work through focussed and intelligence led action plans. We have attended no less than 32 incidents at licensed premises, which predominantly involved theft of alcohol from off sale premises, disorderly conduct/failing to quit with licensed premises and assault. From a prevention perspective, the Youth Engagement Officers continue to work within schools, delivering educational talks and seminars in respect of the dangers of alcohol/drug misuse and the use of vapes etc. Moving forward into the forthcoming period, we are supporting events associated with the festive period and developing our festive policing plans, due to the annual increase in demand during this period, especially at
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licensed premises due to additional party nights out and celebrations at this time VERBAL UPDATE FROM NHS GREATER GLASGOW AND CLYDE/WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE PARTNERSHIP Chris Kelly, Health Improvement Lead - Health and Social Care Partnership, provided a verbal update on issues that may be of interest to Members with regards to concerns with care in West Dunbartonshire, in particular in areas where Overprovision has been highlighted as a concern. LICENSING (SCOTLAND) ACT 2005 – STATISTICAL INFORMATION: PERSONAL AND PREMISES LICENCES Members were advised that premises and personal licence applications, in terms of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 for the period 29 August to 1 November 2023, have been received as follows:- Premises Licence Applications No. Applications for Premises Licences granted 268 Applications for Premises Licences refused 13 Applications for Premises Licences (Members’ Clubs) granted 32 Applications for Major Variation of Premises Licence granted 212 Applications for Variation of Premises Licence pending Hearings 3 Applications for Provisional Premises Licence pending Hearings 1 Application for Provisional Premises Licence (Members’ Club) 0 Application for Temporary Premises Licence pending Hearing 0 Application for Premises Licence pending 0 Premises Licences revoked 0 Personal Licence Applications No. Applications for Personal Licences received 1594 Personal Licences issued 1580 Application for Personal Licence refused 4 Application for Personal Licence revoked 3 DATE OF NEXT MEETING It was agreed that the next meeting of the Licensing Forum would be held on Tuesday, 5 March 2024 at 4.00 p.m. in the Civic Space as a Hybrid Meeting, with Members having the option of attending in person in the Civic Space, 16 Church Street, Dumbarton, or remotely via Zoom Video Conference. The meeting closed at 2.50 p.m.
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