The Licensing Committee of West Oxfordshire Council met on Wednesday 20 May 2026. The agenda included the appointment of its Chair and Vice-Chair for the upcoming civic year, the formal appointment of members to its sub-committees, and the review and approval of minutes from the previous meeting.

Election of Chair and Vice-Chair

The committee was scheduled to elect a Chair and appoint a Vice-Chair for the 2026/27 civic year.

Appointment of Licensing Sub-Committees

A key item on the agenda was the appointment of members to the Licensing Committee's sub-committees for the 2026/27 civic year. This included the appointment of five members to the Miscellaneous Licensing Sub-Committee, with a proposed political proportionality of two Liberal Democrat councillors, two Conservative councillors, and one Labour councillor. The report outlined that this sub-committee is responsible for determining taxi, private hire, and street trading applications in specific circumstances, such as when an applicant has previous convictions. The provisions of the Local Government Act 1972¹ apply to this sub-committee.

Additionally, the committee was to note the membership arrangements for the Licensing Panel. This panel is responsible for determining personal and premises licences where representations are received, and for considering temporary event notices where objections are raised by the Police or Environmental Health. Under the Licensing Act 2003², this panel comprises the Chair or Vice-Chair of the Licensing Committee and two other members, selected on an alphabetical rota basis from the remaining committee members. It was noted that all members participating in Licensing Panel meetings are required to have completed licensing training.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting

The committee was scheduled to review and approve the minutes from the previous Licensing Committee meeting, which was held on Tuesday 9 December 2025. The minutes from that meeting, available in the Public reports pack 20th-May-2026 14.31 Licensing Committee, indicated that a previous discussion had taken place regarding a new fee for primate licences, following new regulations introduced by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).