The Greenwich Council Licensing Committee met on Wednesday 14 May 2025 to discuss the appointment of licensing sub-committees for the upcoming year. The report pack included the terms of reference, sub-committee membership, and hearing procedures for the sub-committees.

Appointment of Licensing Sub-Committees

The committee was scheduled to consider the appointment of members to serve on sub-committees, and to agree on hearing procedures. Under the Licensing Act 2003, the council is required to appoint a Licensing Committee to discharge its function as a Licensing Authority¹. The report pack stated that the Licensing Committee may establish sub-committees in line with the Terms of Reference.

The report pack included the following options for the committee to consider:

• Approving the Terms of Reference, or not approving them and asking full Council to reconsider them.
• Agreeing to the proposed nominations, partially agreeing, or not agreeing to any of the nominations and proposing other members from the membership of the Licensing Committee.
• Agreeing to the procedures, or not agreeing and requesting that officers redraft the procedures.

The report pack recommended that the committee approve the Terms of Reference, appoint sub-committee members, and agree to the meeting procedures.

The report pack also included the proposed membership of the Licensing Sub-Committees for 2025/26:

Licensing Sub-Committee A

• Councillor Joshua Ayodele (Chair)
• Councillor Odette McGahey
• Councillor Lakshan Saldin

Licensing Sub-Committee B

• Councillor Ann-Marie Cousins (Chair)
• Councillor Cathy Dowse
• Councillor Clare Burke-McDonald

Licensing Sub-Committee C

• Councillor David Gardner (Chair)
• Councillor Dave Sullivan
• Councillor Dominic Mbang

Licensing Review Sub-Committee

• Councillor Joshua Ayodele (Chair)
• Councillor Ann-Marie Cousins
• Councillor Dominic Mbang

The report pack also included the proposed procedures for the sub-committee hearings. It stated that each Licensing hearing will be in public and will usually be conducted virtually, and that each hearing will be recorded and made available on the Council’s YouTube Channel for 12 months.

Declarations of Interest

Councillors were expected to declare any personal or financial interests in the items listed on the agenda. The report pack included a list of councillors' memberships on outside bodies, joint committees and school governing bodies.

The report pack stated that a member has a personal interest where any business is likely to affect them, a relevant person, or a relevant body more than a majority of those in the ward they represent. A relevant person is defined as the member’s spouse or civil partner, a person who they are living with as husband and wife or as civil partners, or a person with whom they have a close association. A relevant body is defined as any organisation, school governing body or outside committee or trust which they have been appointed to by the Royal Borough or by the Leader, or any other voluntary organisation, school governing body or commercial organisation where they are a management committee member, school governor, trustee or director.

The report pack also stated that a member has a financial interest where any business relates to or is likely to affect an interest set out in paragraph 18 of the Code of Conduct, and which is the member’s interest or the interest of a relevant person.

Minutes

The committee was scheduled to confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 29 October 2024 as an accurate record.