Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Sarah Nelmes, Andrew Scarth, David Coltman and Ian Morris.

To confirm, as a correct record, the minutes of the Regulatory Services Committee meeting held on 12 October 2023

The Committee approved the minutes of its meeting of 12 October 2023 and authorised the Chair to sign them as a correct record.

Matters Arising Out of Consideration of the Minutes[1]

A Committee Member stated that they were satisfied with the accuracy of the minutes. However, they had not subsequently received information that it was understood was to be provided to all Members of the Committee in respect of the following item in the minutes:

Item RG 12/23: Polling District and Polling Place Review 2023

Statistics on the number of people on the register in each polling district; the number of votes cast in each polling district; the number of postal votes received; and the corresponding polling station for those postal votes.

One Member of the Committee stated that they had received this information and confirmed it was their understanding that this information was to have been provided to all Members of the Committee.

The Chair stated that he would request officers to provide the information detailed in minute Item RG 12/23 to all Members of the Committee.

Items of other business notified under Council Procedure Rule 30 to be announced, together with the special circumstances that justify the consideration as a matter of urgency. The Chair to rule on the admission of such items.

There were no items of “Other Business”.

To receive any Declarations of Interest.

There were no Declarations of Interest.

The Committee is asked to consider and agree to:

1.     The adoption of the Street Trading policy with implementation taking effect in January 2024 following

a)    Approval of the new schedule of street trading fees; and

b)    Completion of the relevant consultation process.

2.     The intention to pass a resolution in respect of the changes to the designation of streets subject to the relevant consultation requirements as set out in the relevant statutory provisions

The Committee considered a report recommending that, following a review of the Street Trading Policy 2022 and a public consultation exercise, the Committee adopt a revised and updated Street Trading Policy (“the Policy”). Further, should the Committee agree to adopt the Policy, that it also agrees an intention to pass a resolution in respect of amendments to the “Designation of Streets”, the draft resolution to be published and be the subject of a statutory consultation.

The report was presented by Lorna Fryer, Licensing Officer.

In the subsequent discussion, the following points were raised.

a)    Referring to the various Appendices to the report, it was noted that Appendix E: Amended Designation of Streets, contained a much shorter list of roads and streets where Street trading was prohibited.

Ms Fryer stated that this list would be subject to confirmation as part of the “Designation of Streets” proposed resolution and consultation and was a discrete element of the Street Trading Policy.

Ms Fryer also noted that every application for a street trading licence was considered on its merits.

b)    It was noted that the current policy prohibited Street trading on what were essentially high streets.

The Chair stated that it had been agreed at previous meetings of the Committee that the “Designation of Streets” should be decided based on allowing Street trading to take place rather than prohibiting Street trading unless otherwise approved by the Council.

c)     Regarding the appropriateness of allowing Street traders to operate on high streets, the Chair, reiterating a point made by Ms Fryer, stated that each application for a street trading licence was considered on its merits.

d)    Anecdotal evidence suggested that allowing Street traders to operate on high streets benefited both Street traders and high street shops, and that allowing Street traders to operate in residential streets would be a more controversial proposal.

The Chair confirmed that the Committee had previously taken these matters into consideration and had taken the view that allowing Street traders to operate in local high streets, particularly Christmas markets, was of benefit to the local economy.

e)    Regarding applications for Street trading licences that might directly compete for business with high Street shops, and the determination of such applications by officers under delegated authority, it was proposed that it would be helpful if Members of the Committee were to be apprised of the criteria to be employed by officers when deciding applications.

Ms Fryer stated that every application for a street trading licence was referred to the statutory “responsible authorities” and to local ward Members for comment before any determination of the application was made by Licensing officers. In addition, there was a 28-day public consultation exercise for every street trading application received. If any objections were received to an application, the application was referred to the Committee for determination.

f)      The Chair made the following observations on the “clean” draft of the Street Trading Policy (“the policy”) (Appendix E of the report):

         i)       Paragraph 2.1.2: the last sentence of the paragraph  ...  view the full minutes text for item RG19/21

To consider the Committee’s Work Programme.

The Committee considered a report by the [former] Principal Committee Manager setting out the Work Programme for the Committee and recommending that the Committee make any changes that might be necessary to update the Work Programme.

A Member, with the concurrence of the Chair, noted that the document was out of date and required updating.

Regarding the date by which the Committee had to consider the statutory quinquennial review of polling districts and polling places, it was noted that a special meeting of the Committee had been scheduled for Thursday, 25 January 2024 to consider this matter.

NOTED