(If applicable) The Chair to read an announcement regarding the guidance on the live streaming of council meetings and other matters.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Hayre, Cllr E Thandi, and Cllr Bungar, with Cllr Williams, Cllr Milner and Cllr Morley as substitute.

Apologies for absence were also received from Cllr Rana and Cllr Harding.

The minutes of the licensing committee held on Tuesday 05 November 2024 were agreed and signed by the Chair.

Cllr Pearton, Cllr Meade, Cllr H Ashenden and Cllr D Ashenden declared an interest as they were Members of the Higham Working Mans Club.

The Assistant Licensing Manager provided the Committee with a verbal update on the Licensing Panels that had taken place since the last committee meeting.

• One licensing panel had taken place on Thursday 02 January 2025 and it was regarding a temporary event notice for the sale of alcohol between the 7 and 13of January at the Prince Albert.
• The reason for the application was that the premises license had lapsed, so the applicant submitted three Temporary Event Notices (TENs) hoping they would be able to continue trading whilst they applied for a new premises licence.
• Kent Police objected under the Prevention of Crime and Disorder objective against all three TENs.
• The first two TENs were late TENs, meaning they were submitted between five and nine working days before the event – when an objection was received, they were outright refused.
• The third TEN was standard, meaning it was submitted ten or more working days before the event – a decision needed to be made by the licensing panel.
• During the hearing, the legal advisor explained that certain areas, with regards to the hearing in relation to a TEN, could not be considered as it was not part of a premises license, such as training records/requirements for CCTV – such conditions could not be placed on a TEN.
• The TEN was refused.

The Assistant Licensing Manager presented the Committee with a report that detailed the responses to the consultation for the Street Trading Policy and Resolution. The following was explained:

• In November 2024, a report was brought before the committee to present a draft resolution and policy, introducing a new Street Trading regime to Gravesham.
• Following approval, a consultation was carried out between 21 November and 18 December 2024 where comments were requested on the proposals.
• Seven responses were received in response to the resolution – all from residents or people who worked in the borough. Six were in support of the draft resolution. The one who was not in support of the resolution raised their concerns about legitimising illegal activity. Conditions will be placed to prevent those who do hold a consent and enforcement action will be taken against those who do not hold a consent. This would hopefully help alleviate this concern.
• Seven responses were received in relation to the draft policy – all from residents or people who worked within the borough. Six were in support of the draft resolution. One was not and referred to the current lack of enforcement – Gravesham has one consent holder, and they abide by their conditions.
• Traders can be in the rest of the borough without consent and the introduction of this policy was to assist the Council in ensuring the safety of everyone involved. The individual also mentioned that they had observed bad practice under pavement licensing and advertising. The mention of pavement licensing had been noted and would be addressed as necessary under the relevant legislation. Advertising was a matter for planning and Kent County Council (KCC) licensing.
• During this consultation period, Licensing continued to review the policy and have made a few amendments themselves, and they were detailed within the report.

Following questions and comments from Members, the Assistant Licensing Manager explained that:

• There were three types of streets under street trading legislation. Prohibited streets, which meant that there can be no trading on them, a licensed street, which meant that a trader would need to obtain a licence to trade on those streets, and a consent street, which required street trading consent in order to trade.
• The type of premises that were to be expected for street trading consent would be ice cream vans and street food traders i.e., burger vans. It would also cover traders that would want to set up a stall and trade from that.
• The requirement to be of at least 17 years of age was detailed within legislation and was therefore adhered to within the policy.
• A basic disclosure was required from every applicant and assistant for the trader. Licensing Officers would then look at the offences declared and make an executive decision as to whether the offence was relative and would put the public at risk. If any concerns were found, the Licensing team would reach out to their legal team.
• There was currently nothing detailed within the policy about reporting back  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.