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Licensing & General Purposes Committee - Tuesday, 8 July 2025 7:00 pm

July 8, 2025 View on council website
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Summary

The Licensing & General Purposes Committee were scheduled to meet to discuss and approve changes to the Hounslow Statement of Licensing Policy 2020 to 2025, and to decide whether to retain, modify, or remove the cumulative impact area, based on an updated research report and public consultation. The committee was also scheduled to recommend the updated policy to the Borough Council for adoption.

Here's a breakdown of the key items from the agenda:

Statement of Licensing Policy and Cumulative Impact Research

The main item for discussion was the Statement of Licensing Policy (SoLP) and associated Cumulative Impact Research. The report pack included the draft Statement of Licensing Policy, appendices, an overview of changes, the Cumulative Impact Research Report, and an Equality Impact Assessment.

The Licensing Act 2003 requires that the council reviews its Statement of Licensing Policy every five years. The current policy was due to expire in October 2025. The report pack included a draft of the updated policy, which had been subject to public consultation between 13 January and 10 March 2025.

The report pack stated that the draft Statement of Licensing Policy 2025 built on changes implemented in 2020, and proposed strengthening the link between licensing and other council policies, such as the Hounslow Local Plan and Community Safety Strategy. According to the report pack, key proposed changes to the Statement of Licensing Policy included:

  • Making the policy more concise and locally focused.
  • Adding new sections that reflect a wider range of council policies.
  • Adding a richer and more detailed use of the Local Plan, with sections on each town centre.

The report pack also included a review of the existing Cumulative Impact Research Report. The report pack stated that the Licensing Committee was asked to decide whether to retain the cumulative impact area, modify it, or remove it, based on the updated research report and following the public consultation.

The report pack stated that the existing Cumulative Impact Assessment Research report covered three cumulative impact areas: Hounslow Town centre, Heston and Cranford. The report pack stated that the assessment must be reviewed every three years, and provides the evidence base to show where the cumulative impact of licensed premises has negatively affected the licensing objectives.

The report pack included a summary of the results of the public consultation on the draft Statement of Licensing Policy 2025. According to the report pack, the consultation sought feedback from people in the borough on whether they supported the revised draft Statement of Licensing Policy. The report pack stated that overall, respondents were more supportive than not that the draft Statement of Licensing Policy 2025 would support the licensing objectives, and were equally split whether the Cumulative Impact Assessment (if continued) would support the licensing objectives.

The report pack included an Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) which stated that the draft Statement of Licensing Policy 2025-2028 had been assessed for its potential impact on different equality groups. The EqIA stated that the policy sought to encourage, support and guide new and extended applications from existing and new businesses for licences in the borough, by being much more readable than most other Statements of Licensing Policy. The EqIA stated that the draft Policy was careful not go beyond the legal requirements set out under the Licensing Act 2003, and that it created a broadly neutral policy environment.

The report pack included a draft of the Statement of Licensing Policy itself, which stated that:

The purpose of this Statement of Licensing Policy ('the Policy') is to set out the principles to be applied when considering licence applications under the Licensing Act 2003 ('the Act') by The London Borough of Hounslow.

The draft Statement of Licensing Policy included sections on:

  • Purpose and scope
  • Review of the licensing policy
  • Local context
  • Integration of licensing with other policies
  • The four licensing objectives
  • Applying for a licence or certificate
  • Information for applicants
  • Cumulative impact
  • Temporary event notices
  • Personal licences
  • Enforcement, reviews and suspensions
  • Definitions and interpretation
  • Contact details

The draft Statement of Licensing Policy also included a number of appendices, including a glossary, a list of responsible authorities, mandatory conditions, model conditions, delegations of powers, relevant legislation, and licensing resources.

The report pack included a draft of the Cumulative Impact Research Report, which stated that:

Cumulative impact is a proper matter that a licensing authority (Hounslow Council) can consider under the Licensing Act 2003 and its accompanying Guidance (Section 182, revised 2018).

The Cumulative Impact Research Report included sections on:

  • Executive summary
  • Context
  • Objectives
  • Methodology
  • Findings: crime and ASB
  • Findings: LAS and public health data
  • Findings: street drinking hotspots
  • Findings: licensed premises

Declaring Interests

The committee members were reminded that if they had a personal interest in any matter being discussed at the meeting they must declare the interest, and if the interest is also a prejudicial interest then they may not take part in any discussion or vote on the matter. The MO Guidance on Declaring Interests - May 2022 was included in the report pack.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting

The minutes of the meeting held on 18 December 2024 were included in the report pack.

Urgent Business

The agenda included an item for any urgent business which the Chair agrees to accept on grounds of urgency.

Attendees

Profile image for Councillor Harleen Atwal Hear
Councillor Harleen Atwal Hear  Labour •  Heston Central
Profile image for Councillor Rasheed Bhatti
Councillor Rasheed Bhatti  Labour •  Hounslow Central
Profile image for Councillor Dan Bowring
Councillor Dan Bowring  Labour •  Syon & Brentford Lock
Profile image for Councillor Unsa Chaudri
Councillor Unsa Chaudri  Labour and Co-operative Party •  Osterley & Spring Grove
Profile image for Councillor Richard Foote
Councillor Richard Foote  Labour and Co-operative Party •  Hanworth Village
Profile image for Councillor Gabriella Giles
Councillor Gabriella Giles  Conservative •  Chiswick Riverside
Profile image for Councillor Riaz Gull
Councillor Riaz Gull  Labour and Co-operative Party •  Heston Central
Profile image for Councillor Allan Joseph
Councillor Allan Joseph  Conservative •  Hanworth Village
Profile image for Councillor Karamat Malik
Councillor Karamat Malik  Labour •  Heston West
Profile image for Councillor Amritpal Mann
Councillor Amritpal Mann  Workers Party of Britain •  Heston East
Profile image for Councillor Gerald McGregor
Councillor Gerald McGregor  Conservative •  Chiswick Homefields
Profile image for Councillor Farhaan Rehman
Councillor Farhaan Rehman  Labour •  Hounslow Heath
Profile image for Councillor Aftab Siddiqui
Councillor Aftab Siddiqui  Labour •  Osterley & Spring Grove
Profile image for Councillor Karen Smith
Councillor Karen Smith  Labour and Co-operative Party •  Hounslow South
Profile image for Councillor Mohammed Umair
Councillor Mohammed Umair  Labour •  Hounslow West

Topics

No topics have been identified for this meeting yet.

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