This meeting was scheduled to include a discussion about pavement licences, gambling policy in Westminster and an update on licensing appeals that had been determined since the last meeting.

Pavement licences

The meeting was scheduled to include a vote to ratify the decision made at the urgency committee on the 25th of April to set the cost of new pavement licence applications at £500 and the cost of licence renewals at £350.

Councillors were also scheduled to discuss whether to continue granting pavement licences for a standard duration of six months, or whether to grant them for longer. The report prepared for this discussion explained that:

The Act allows up to two years but since 2020 the Licensing Service has been issuing pavement licences for six months and this is in keeping with the previous scheme under the City of Westminster Act which was also for a period of six months.

The report goes on to explain that the council believes it is appropriate to grant licences for a shorter period because of the large number of businesses in Westminster that might want to use the scheme:

Because of the unique location of Westminster and the volume of premises which serve food and drink, Westminster businesses have made significant use of the pavement licence scheme. This has the potential to create a cumulative impact on residents and other premises such as entertainment premises who have large volumes of customers queuing to get into and dispersing from the Premises at any one time, so the Council considers it is reasonable and appropriate to generally grant pavement licences for no longer than 6 months at a time.

Statement of Gambling Principles

The meeting was scheduled to include a report from Kerry Simpkin, Head of Licensing, Place and Investment Policy on whether to re-adopt the council's existing gambling policy, which had been in place since December of 2022.

The report explains that the council is required to re-assess its gambling policy every three years, and that because this three-year cycle began on the 31st of January 2007, the next cycle is due to begin on 31st January 2025. The report explains that because the current policy has been in place for less than three years, and there have been no significant changes to the national picture on gambling, the council's officers do not believe there are any reasons to make changes to the existing policy. The report says that officers:

...consider that there is no need to make any revisions to [the gambling policy]. This view is based on the fact that there have been no changes in legislation, Local Authority Guidance, or the Gambling Commission's Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) and no issues or omissions have been identified that would require a revision to the current version of the policy.

Update of Licensing Appeals

Councillors were scheduled to receive a report from Heidi Titcombe, the council's Principal Solicitor on licensing and highways law, listing all of the appeals against licensing decisions made by the council since the last meeting.

Appeals Determined Since the Last Meeting

The report explains that the appeal against the council's decision to only allow MacDonalds on Edgware Road to serve late night refreshment until 2:30 am on Fridays and Saturdays had been settled.

It also explains that the appeal made by the Greater London Authority against the refusal to grant them a licence to run a fan park on Victoria Embankment during the UEFA Champions League was settled when the GLA agreed to reduce the size of the area they wanted to use, and reduce the maximum capacity of the fan park from 29,000 to 13,600.

The report also describes how the council had been taken to court by Global Radio, who are unhappy about the noise created by buskers in Leicester Square. The report explains that:

Global Radio have offices near this pitch, and they claim buskers are causing a statutory nuisance when they perform, and they want the Council to take action to stop the alleged statutory nuisance caused.

Ongoing Appeals

The report lists the appeals that were ongoing at the time the report was written. It says that seven appeals are pending.

These include the appeal by the Park Street Hotel against conditions attached to their licence to operate a six star hotel. The report explains that:

Representations were received from Environmental Health, Park Street Management, Fountain House and five individual local residents.

The report goes on to say that the appeal was brought by Park Street Management Co Ltd.

Another ongoing appeal relates to the decision to revoke the sexual entertainment venue licence of Vanity Bar and Night Club on Carlisle Street. The report says that a decision is awaited on how much the owners of Vanity will have to pay towards the council's legal fees in defending the appeal at magistrates court, and that a further appeal hearing at the Crown Court is scheduled for February 2025.

The report explains that the council is also awaiting a judgement on whether French Tacos on Harrow Road, which does not have a licence to serve late night refreshment, should be prosecuted for doing so. It describes how the owner of French Tacos, Mr Andrabi, claims that he is allowed to operate without a licence because:

hot food and drink is being supplied by a third party delivery company/agent, as opposed to from his restaurant premises which are not open to members of the public between 23:00 and 05:00.

The report explains that because this argument centres around the interpretation of the Licensing Act 2003, the magistrates court will have to make a judgement on the matter before deciding whether to proceed with a prosecution.