New Forest Borough Council General Purposes and Licensing Committee Meeting

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 18 July 2022  be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

No Declarations of Interest were made by any Members in connection with any Agenda Item.

No issues were raised during the Public Participation period.

The Committee considered proposed Fees and Charges for the Licensing Service for 2023-2024.

RESOLVED:

That it be recommended to the Council:

That the Recommended Licensing Fees and Charges for the financial year 2023/2024 be approved as set out in Appendix A.

The Committee considered the update on the Licensing Service for 2022.

Members noted the increase in licensing applications post-Covid. The number of Temporary Event Notices (TENs) had also increased, particularly around the time of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. This was expected to continue into 2023 with the King’s Coronation being a similar event that would garner lots of TENs.

Members noted the minor updates in statutory guidance for both premises licence applications and taxi driver licenses. The Committee were reminded how the Licensing process was very much collaborative, working with both internal and external partners throughout the process. Partners included teams from: Environmental Protection, Food Safety, the Police, the Immigration Office, Fire Safety, Trading Standards and HMRC. This partnership working is vital and allowed the Licensing Authority to better asses the impacts and benefits that licensing applications would have on the public and on businesses.

Members praised the Licensing team for the amount of work they completed, referencing the 20% increase in workload the team faced in 2022.