Agenda and minutes

A moment of silence was observed for the victims of the Southport attack at the request of Cllr J. Williams.

To receive declarations of interest from Members on items contained within the agenda

There were no declarations of interest stated.

Resolved:    That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 11^th June 2024 be agreed as a true and accurate record.

Consideration was given to a report informing the Committee of a Home Office consultation that had recently closed in relation to proposed amendments to the Licensing Act 2003 to support businesses with alcohol consumption within licensed pavement licence areas and off-sales of alcohol. The Council had submitted a response to the consultation prior to the closing date.

Cllrs Sweeney and J. Williams expressed their support to the report and response provided to the consultation in favour of option number 2, which was to amend the Licensing Act to extend the definition of on-sales so that it includes consumption in a licenced pavement area.

The Chair welcomed the promotion of the café-culture to encourage people to shop and spend time in the town centre.

Resolved:    That the contents of the report be noted.

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Consideration was given to a report on the consultation process for the Council’s Gambling Policy in accordance with Section 349 of the Gambling Act 2005 which set a statutory duty for local authorities to review their gambling statement every three years.

Cllr Sweeney expressed his support to the report and recommendations.

Resolved:    1. That the report be received.

2. That the draft Gambling Policy for Newcastle-under-Lyme be approved.

3. That the commencement of the 6-week consultation be approved.

4. That any responses received to the consultation be considered by the Committee at the meeting to be held on 29^th October 2024 and that recommendations of this Committee be included in the final report to Full Council.

5. That the updated Policy be presented for approval to Full Council at its meeting on 20^th November 2024.

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To consider the minutes of the Licensing Sub-Committees which have met since the previous Licensing and Public Protection Committee.

Resolved:    That the minutes of the Licensing Sub-Committee meeting held on 12^th July 2024 be received.

To receive declarations of interest from Members on items contained within the agenda

There were no declarations of interest stated.

Consideration was given to a report making the Committee aware of the work planned by the Food and Safety team for 2024/25 in line with the Food Standards Agency framework agreement and statutory Code of Practice along with a review of the previous year’s performance.

The Chair shared her appreciation of the quality of the report and even more so considering the small team.

Cllr Brown enquired about the increase in food hygiene incidents requiring improvement and wished for the officer to elaborate on the kind of issues that would come up.

– This would mostly relate to management / daily running activities such as a fridge temperature or cleaning reference being up to date or whether the staff had a food hygiene certificate – the paperwork required for inspections.

Cllr Williams commented on the importance of the work carried out by officers with regard to the impact of food contaminations on health services.

Cllr Sweeney commended officers for their passion for what they did.

Cllr Hutchison reported having attended two inspections with officers which each lasted two hours. Everything had been checked in details.

Cllr G. Williams shared her enthusiasm on the Council’s health department and the work achieved over the past 30 years.

Resolved:    That the Food Safety Service Plan for 2024/25 be received and endorsed.

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To consider the minutes of the Public Protection Sub-Committees which have met since the previous Licensing and Public Protection Committee.

Resolved:    That the minutes of the Public Protection Sub-Committee meeting held on 12^th June 2024 be received.

To consider any business which is urgent within the meaning of Section 100B (4) of the Local Government Act 1972

There was no urgent business.

To resolve that the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the attached report, because it is likely that there will be disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1, 2 and 7 in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no confidential items.