Agenda and draft minutes

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 8^th October 2025 were agreed and signed as a true record.

Guidance is available online to Councillors and co-opted members on making declarations of interest

There were no declarations of interest.

Information on public speaking is available online

No members of the public had registered to speak.

Information on matters of urgency is available online

There were no matters of urgency.

To agree any items to be dealt with after the public (including the press) have been excluded. Thereare no itemswhich officersrecommendshould be dealtwithin thisway.

There were no confidential or exempt items.

The Licensing Manager presented the report which provided an update on the activities of the Licensing Service under the Licensing Act 2003, Gambling Act 2005, taxi and private hire licensing and general licensing including street trading and pavement licensing.

On behalf of the Committee, the Chair thanked Licensing Officers for their work on the recent Ottery Tar Barrels event.

Discussion and responses to questions included the following points:

·        With regard to the renewal in 2026 of all pavement licences applied for in 2024 after the implementation of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023, the Licensing Manager would be keeping staffing levels under review to ensure that there was sufficient capacity to manage the additional workload. It was noted that the Committee would be fully supportive of staff recruitment should the need be identified;

·        Concern was expressed that premises holding a pavement licence should be aware of the need and obligation to keep pavements covered by a licence clean and safe. This was noted and Licensing Officers would follow this up where appropriate.

The Committee agreed to note the report.

The Licensing Manager presented the report which updated the Committee on the outcome of the consultation on the summary administrative review of the Licensing Act 2003, Statement of Licensing Policy 2026 – 2031.

It is a legal requirement of the Licensing Act 2003 for the Council to determine a Licensing Policy to provide a framework for all licence applications regarding the sale of alcohol, the provision of regulated entertainment and the provision of late-night refreshment. The Policy was previously reviewed in 2020 and must be reviewed at least every five years. An amended policy must be adopted by 7 January 2026.

The Licensing Manager highlighted the proposed changes to the policy and advised that no responses to the consultation had been received. Should any changes to guidance or legislation be made as a result of the recent Government call for evidence regarding the proposed reform of the Licensing Framework, a further review of the Statement of Licensing Policy will take place.

In response to a question regarding the proposed introduction of an appropriate fee for film classification procedures, it was noted that, in some instances, it can take two Licensing Officers several hours to watch films to determine the classification. The introduction of a fee was therefore considered to be appropriate and was consistent with other licensing authorities.

AGREED

The Committee agreed to note the outcome of the consultation undertaken on East Devon District Council’s proposed summary administrative review of the Licensing Act 2003 Statement of Licensing Policy 2026 – 2031.

RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL

That the proposed Licensing Act 2003 Statement of Licensing Policy be adopted by the Council for the period of 7 January 2026 to 6 January 2031.

The Licensing Officer presented the report which set out the reasons for a review of the Street Trading Policy and sought approval from the Committee to move to a public consultation on the draft revised policy.

The current version of the Policy (version 5) came into effect on 1 May 2023. There is no statutory requirement to review a street trading policy, however, Officers were of the opinion that numerous areas for amendment had become apparent since the last policy came into effect. The proposed draft amended policy therefore fully updates the policy and provides additional information in areas where officers had identified that further information would be worthwhile.

It was noted that no changes are proposed to the designation of streets listed in the policy and that proposed amendments are limited to the content of the policy.

The proposed consultation period would be 10 weeks commencing on 24 November 2025, should the Committee be minded to agree.

In response to questions, it was noted that pre-ordered goods and delivery of these would not require street trading consent. Ice-cream vans do not fall into this category and therefore would require consent.

The proposed standard conditions and terms clarified the requirements for street traders to provide waste bins and the removal and disposal of waste.

AGREED

The Committee agreed to approve moving to a public consultation on the revised draft Street Trading Policy and that the draft Policy document be returned to the Committee for further consideration following the public consultation.

The Chair introduced the report and noted that the Government had provided a very short timescale for responses to the consultation on reform of the licensing system. The Chair thanked the Licensing Manager for her help with technical aspects of the consultation and thanked members of the Committee for their email comments and for attending the online meeting to discuss the response.

Members of the Committee had generally agreed that promoting economic growth was not compatible with licensing objectives.

AGREED

The Committee agreed to ratify the response, set out at Appendix 1 of the report, to the Government call for evidence to inform the development of a modern, proportionate and enabling licensing system.