Agenda and minutes

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 17^th July 2024.

The minutes of the meeting held on 17^th July 2024 were confirmed and signed.

To disclose any pecuniary, other registrable or non-registrable interests as set out in the adopted Code of Conduct. In making their disclosure councillors are asked to state the agenda item, the nature of the interest and any action they propose to take as part of their declaration.

If required, further advice should be sought from the Monitoring Officer in advance of the meeting.

No declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests were made at the meeting.

Representatives of town or parish councils and members of the public who live, work, or represent an organisation within the Dorset Council area are welcome to submit either 1 question or 1 statement for each meeting.  You are welcome to attend the meeting in person or via MS Teams to read out your question and to receive the response.   If you submit a statement for the committee this will be circulated to all members of the committee in advance of the meeting as a supplement to the agenda and appended to the minutes for the formal record but will not be read out at the meeting. The first 8 questions and the first 8 statements received from members of the public or organisations for each meeting will be accepted on a first come first served basis in accordance with the deadline set out below.  Further information read Public Participation - Dorset Council  

All submissions must be emailed in full to  [email protected] 8.30am on Monday 10^th November 2025.

When submitting your question or statement please note that:  

·       You can submit 1 question or 1 statement. 

·       a question may include a short pre-amble to set the context.  

·       It must be a single question and any sub-divided questions will not be permitted. 

·       Each question will consist of no more than 450 words, and you will be given up to 3 minutes to present your question.  

·       when submitting a question please indicate who the question is for (e.g., the name of the committee or Portfolio Holder)  

·       Include your name, address, and contact details.  Only your name will be published but we may need your other details to contact you about your question or statement in advance of the meeting.  

·       questions and statements received in line with the council’s rules for public participation will be published as a supplement to the agenda.  

·       all questions, statements and responses will be published in full within the minutes of the meeting.  

There were no questions or participation from the public.

The Council, as Licensing Authority under the Licensing Act 2003, is required to publish a Statement of Licensing Policy at least every five years. The purpose of the policy statement is to define how the Council will exercise its responsibilities under the Act. The draft policy has been prepared by officers and is now ready to be published, in draft format, for a period of public consultation, of not less than 8 weeks

The Service Manager for Licensing and Community Safety, John Newcombe, introduced the report.

It was explained that the Statement of Licensing Policy is due for renewal, as there is a requirement to review and publish every five years. The Committee was asked to give authority to go out to consultation for no less than eight weeks, which would allow time to bring back any relevant representations received to this Committee, and take a report to Full Council on the 10^th of February for approval. Updates had been made to dates and addresses including department names. Not much needed changing due to the fact the policy was mostly up to date.

The Service Manager explained that Central Government was looking to introduce a new licensing objective related to economic development. After consultation it was suggested that a public health objective be included to counter that the new policy would make it easier for businesses to extend their hours and give more access to temporary event notices. The Service Manager Expected to have to do a full re-write next year.

There was a cumulative impact area in Weymouth that would be retained in the updated Policy but reviewed in the re-write next year.

In response to a member question the Service Manager responded that they were trying to persuade the government to change the fees for Licensing. TEN fees are £21 which did not cover the cost of putting the application on the system and had asked Central Government if they allowed changes to TENs then to review the fees alongside it. Changes to these fees were being campaigned for.

Proposed by Councillor Les Fry and seconded by Councillor Kate Wheller.

Decision: That the draft Licensing Policy 2021-2026 be published for a period of public consultation of no less than 8 weeks.

To consider any items of business which the Chairman has had prior notification and considers to be urgent pursuant to section 100B (4) b) of the Local Government Act 1972. The reason for the urgency shall be recorded in the minutes.

There were no urgent items.

To move the exclusion of the press and the public for the following item in view of the likely disclosure of exempt information within the meaning of paragraph 3 of schedule 12 A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended). The public and the press will be asked to leave the meeting whilst the item of business is considered.  

There are no exempt items scheduled for this meeting.  

There was no exempt business.