Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED:  To note the attendance at this meeting of the following duly appointed Reserve Member:-

To note the appointment of Councillors L Seymour, A Seymour and Chris Mote as Reserve Members in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 1.5 and following notification from the Conservative Group Leader.

RESOLVED:  To note the appointment of Councillors Lynda Seymour, Anthony Seymour and Chris Mote as Reserve Members of the Licensing and General Purposes Committee for the 2010/11 Municipal Year in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 1.5.

To note the appointment of Councillors Bill Phillips and Mrinal Choudhury as Members of the Personnel Appeals Panel in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 1.5 and following notification from the Labour Group Leader.

RESOLVED:  To note the appointment of Councillors Bill Phillips and Mrinal Choudhury as Members of the Personnel Appeals Panel for the 2010/11 Municipal Year in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 1.5.

To receive declarations of personal or prejudicial interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)               all Members of the Committee, Sub Committee, Panel or Forum;

(b)               all other Members present in any part of the room or chamber.

RESOLVED:  To note that the following interests were declared:

Agenda Item 9 – Special Treatment Licensing – Laser

Councillor Susan Hall declared a prejudicial interest in that her business had the option to offer laser and/or intense pulse light treatments.  She left the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Councillor Ajay Maru declared a prejudicial interest in that his business offered laser and/or intense pulse light treatments. He left the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Agenda Item 10 – Adoption of Additional Conditions for Special Treatments Licences

Councillor Susan Hall declared a prejudicial interest in that her business had the option to offer special treatments.  She left the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Councillor Ajay Maru declared a prejudicial interest in that his business offered special treatments.  He left the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 June 2010 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 June 2010, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To receive questions (if any) from local residents/organisations under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 17 (Part 4B of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were put, or petitions or deputations received at this meeting.

Report of the Corporate Director Community and Environment.

In accordance with the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, this item was admitted late to the agenda to allow Members to be briefed on the proposals in the report.  This item had not been available at the time the agenda was dispatched and circulated.

The Panel received a report of Divisional Director of Environmental Services that summarised the new amendments to Schedule 3 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 which related to the creation of the category of ‘sexual entertainment venues’.  The report requested permission for the Head of Service to start a public consultation process in relation to Harrow adopting the provisions outlined in Schedule 3 of the officers report in order to regulate these types of premises.

In response to questions from Members of the Committee, the officer advised that:

·                     a full public consultation would be conducted. Currently licensed premises, Responsible Authorities and neighbouring boroughs would be contacted.  Notice of the consultation would be reported in local newspapers and publications, such as the Harrow People;

·                     the Council would make a decision on whether to adopt the legislation following consideration of the results of the public consultation.  The Council’s Licensing Team currently inspected licensable premises.  If the legislation was adopted, officers would not experience an increase in their existing workload.  Officers would assess the frequency of inspections by utilising additional resources and tools to enhance the existing monitoring process.  The cost of issuing licences and conducting inspections would be recovered;

·                     the definition of a sexual establishment was defined in Schedule 3 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982.  Officers were not aware of any establishments currently operating as sexual entertainment venues in the borough.  If an existing premises with an operating licence were to provide adult entertainment on an infrequent basis, the Council’s current licensing policy provided the necessary controls to regulate and monitor this particular form of entertainment.

RESOLVED:              That

(1)               the Head of Community Safety be authorised to begin a public consultation about Harrow on the adoption of the amendments made by section 27 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 to the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982;

(2)               officers provide Members of the Committee with a draft consultation questionnaire before placing it in the public domain;

(3)               the Committee be advised of the consultation results at a future Committee meeting.

Report of the Corporate Director Community and Environment.

An officer presented a report that set out the current position for operators offering laser and intense pulse light treatments in the beauty industry.

He reported that the London Local Authorities Act 1991 (Special Treatments Licensing) would require operators to apply to the local authority for a Special Treatments Licence for treatments administered using Class 3B or 4 Lasers or Intense Pulse Light (IPL) for non-surgical purposes.  The Care Quality Commission (CQC) currently regulated the use of these lasers and would continue to do so until 30 September 2010.  The requirements for local authority regulation would come into effect from 1 October 2010.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Report of the Corporate Director Community & Environment.

The Committee received a report of the Divisional Director of Environmental Services that set out the additional licensing conditions proposed to apply to operators wishing to offer laser and/or intense pulse light treatments (IPL) on their premises’ special treatment licence issued under the London Local Authorities Act 1991.

In response to questions from the Committee, an officer advised that:

·                    at present officers completed inspections of these premises in accordance with the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974).  Licensing officers had received and would continue to be trained on laser and IPL equipment and would be ready to commence inspections from 1 October 2010.  Officers would also consider aspects of good practice when inspecting premises with a special treatments licence;

·                    a list of organisations that provide training in this field qualifications and of accredited training courses was in the process of being finalised;

·                    the Council was part of consortium of London Local Authorities that met on a regular basis to discuss licensing matters.  The consortium would also share good practice techniques to ensure that premises offering special treatments were fit for purpose.  Local authority members of the consortium had appointed Advisers, who had previous experience and were regarded as experts in this particular field;

·                    at present, the CQC monitored premises when a complaint or a request to investigate had been received.  As such, existing premises were currently self-regulated and instances of bad practice were rare.  If the proposed conditions were approved, stringent monitoring measures would be introduced to take effect from 1 October 2010;

·                    the current cost of initial cost of applying for a special premises licence was approximately £4000 before any treatments could be administered.  This was considerably more than the proposed amount charged by the Council.  A report outlining the fee structure for regulating these premises had been prepared for discussion at the Cabinet meeting on 14 September 2010;

·                    the London Local Authorities Act 1991 allowed local authorities to prescribe standard conditions for each special treatment licence.  As with the Council’s Licensing Policy, standard conditions were not the same for all local authorities;

·                    liability for special treatments offered by a premises should be arranged under employers liability, a public liability or professional indemnity insurance policy;

·                    the proposed conditions required for premises to use appropriate signage. Whilst conducting inspections, officers would assess whether the signage was adequate for the premises licence.

RESOLVED:  That the proposed conditions for premises offering laser/ IPL treatments be approved.