The Committee of the Licensing Authority of South Holland Council was scheduled to meet on Thursday 22 May 2025 to review and prepare for consultation on the Licensing Act 2003 Licensing Policy Statement. The agenda also included signing off the minutes from a previous meeting.

Licensing Act 2003 Policy Statement

The main item for discussion was the Licensing Act 2003 Licensing Policy Statement. The Committee of the Licensing Authority was asked to review and amend the draft statement, and approve its content for consultation, as required by the Licensing Act 2003¹. Following the consultation, a schedule of responses would be brought back to the committee for consideration, and a final draft would be approved, with a recommendation that it be referred to the Full Council for adoption.

The report pack stated that in accordance with the Licensing Act 2003 (Section 5), the authority is required to consult on and publish a statement of licensing policy every five years. The policy must set out how the authority will exercise its functions under the Licensing Act 2003 with a view to promoting the licensing objectives.

The four licensing objectives are:

• The prevention of crime and disorder
• The prevention of public nuisance
• Public safety
• The protection of children from harm

The report pack notes that the licensing objectives are considered to be of equal importance.

The report pack also notes that the policy statement is provided to assist applicants in understanding what the licensing authority is seeking to achieve through the promotion of the licensing objectives, the factors that influence the licensing objectives, and the control measures that could be implemented by applicants to enable them to promote the objectives. The Policy is also used as a reference for all decisions made by the licensing authority.

According to the report pack, a number of amendments have been made to the existing Statement of Licensing Policy to produce an initial draft. Any changes to the existing statement are detailed in red within the body of the document.

The proposed material changes to the Policy are summarised as:

• The Protection of Children from Harm section has had a section added relating to awareness of the sexual exploitation of children.
• A Safeguarding section has been added in relation to children and vulnerable persons.
• A Modern-Day Slavery section has been added.
• A Counter Terrorism section has been added.
• The Public Safety section has been updated to include various new initiatives and current guidance, including information on drink spiking.
• A new section and associated appendix have been added to advise licence holders and applicant’s of the Public Space Protection Order which is in force within the Borough.
• The section on Minor Variations has been moved under the Applications heading.

The report pack lists the bodies that the Licensing Authority must consult:

• The Chief Officer of Police for the Licensing Authority’s area (Responsible Authority).
• The Fire Authority for the area (Responsible Authority).
• The Director of Public Health for the area.
• Such persons considered to be representative of holders of premises licences.
• Such persons considered to be representative of holders of club premises certificates.
• Such persons considered to be representative of holders of personal licences.
• Such other persons considered to be representative of businesses and residents in the area.

The Licensing Authority will also consult the remaining responsible authorities named in the Act, elected members and parish councils. The remaining responsible authorities are:

• Environmental Health (Pollution)
• Environmental Health (Health and Safety)
• Health and Safety Executive
• The Planning Authority
• Trading Standards
• Public Health Body for the area
• Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Board
• British Waterways
• Maritime and Coastguard Agency
• Environment Agency

Minutes of the Previous Meeting

The minutes from the Committee of the Licensing Authority meeting held on 10 September 2024 were included in the report pack. At that meeting, the committee considered the draft Gambling Policy (Statement of Principles) prior to it being issued for consultation. The Public Protection Manager introduced the policy, noting that it was required to be reviewed and published every three years and related to premises licences for gambling activities as operators themselves were licenced by the Gambling Commission². The only change presented within the draft policy was the statistical information regarding the population and the number of licences in operation within the district. The committee approved the draft policy for consultation.