The Licensing Committee was scheduled to meet on 23 September 2025 to discuss appeals, exempt information, late items, declarations of interest and apologies for absence. The committee was also scheduled to discuss the minutes from previous meetings held on 5 August 2025 and 18 August 2025, and a Cumulative Impact Assessment.

Here's a summary of the topics the committee was scheduled to discuss:

Cumulative Impact Assessment

The committee was scheduled to consider a report from the Chief Officer Elections and Regulatory, which presented a draft Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) and sought permission to undertake a public consultation with affected businesses and residents, as required by the Licensing Act 2003¹. Under the Licensing Act 2003, the licensing authority must review the CIA every three years, and if changes are made, the council must amend the Statement of Licensing Policy to reflect those changes at the same time.

The draft Cumulative Impact Assessment included updated data from the Leeds Alcohol Data Matrix, as well as crime and nuisance data from Safer Leeds. Where available, the report also included agency and resident evidence to provide additional context on the issues being experienced in the area.

The draft CIA recommended that the scope of all seven areas remain the same, with the exception of the city centre. The report recommended that applicants seeking a licence to sell alcohol for consumption off the premises (i.e. convenience stores etc) in the city centre should include measures that seek to minimise the impact such premises are having in the Vicar Lane and Market areas.

The report stated that in line with statutory requirements and the licensing authority's usual practice, the CIA would undergo a public consultation with those affected by the proposed changes. The licensing authority would also consult with ward members and residents who have expressed an interest in this matter. The public consultation was scheduled for 1 to 31 October.

Following the consultation, the CIA would be reviewed again, taking into consideration any comments provided, and the final CIA would be presented to the Licensing Committee for approval in November.

The report noted that there was strong support from residents and ward members for the assessment in their areas, as it provides additional controls with regards to the determination of applications in areas suffering from the impact of licensed premises.

The draft Cumulative Impact Assessment included detailed analysis of the following areas:

• City Centre
• Headingley
• Hyde Park
• Armley
• Harehills and Burmantofts
• Holbeck
• Beeston

Each of these analyses contained sections on: background, the law, practice, history of cumulative impact in Leeds, three yearly reviews, types of evidence, the Leeds Alcohol Licensing Data Matrix, crime and nuisance statistics, a review of the cumulative impact areas, consultation, alcohol licensing data and conclusions.

The draft Cumulative Impact Assessment stated that the council had reviewed the Leeds City Centre MSOA². The city centre sits in Hunslet and Riverside ward. The Middle Super Output Area (MSOA) for this area (E02006875 – Leeds City Centre) ranks 1 out of 107 MSOAs in Leeds and is considered very high risk. This MSOA ranks not only very high, but also highest for 9 data sets: crime where alcohol flagged, antisocial behaviour – alcohol related, drunk and disorderly, noise complaints.

The draft Cumulative Impact Assessment stated that Safer Leeds Community Safety Performance and Intelligence Unit have provided a report which analyses crime and nuisance incidents in the city centre monitoring area and red zones. The period of analysis is April 2022 to March 2025. The report is entitled Cumulative Impact Areas – City and dated July 2025. 15,831 crimes were recorded in the city monitoring zone and red zones cumulative impact area(s) within the three-year period of analysis. On average, there are 440 crimes recorded each month. High volume crime groups include assault, public order, and other violence offences. In the last 12-months, there have been 2,265 assault offences, 702 public order offences, and 359 other violence offences. The volume of other violence has increased in this area. In the last 12-months, there have been 779 theft other offences, 245 robbery offences, and 170 sexual offences.

Within the city monitoring zone and red zones cumulative impact area(s), a higher number of offences occurred on Briggate, Call Lane, Albion Street, New York Street, Boar Lane, and The Headrow. 718 crimes were recorded on Briggate in the last 12-months. Crime volume on Briggate and Call Lane peaks during the weekend and 'overnight'.

The draft Cumulative Impact Assessment stated that the current policy in this area is that it would be inconsistent with the council's duty to promote the licensing objectives to grant new and variation applications for any premises licence (on sales, off sales and late night takeaways) that seek to operate during the peak hours described in the cumulative impact assessment for the city centre.

Minutes from Previous Meetings

The committee was scheduled to approve the minutes from the previous meetings held on 5 August 2025 and 18 August 2025.

The minutes from the meeting held on 5 August 2025 included a discussion of the Leeds Festival 2025, and a decision to delegate approval of the final Leeds Festival 2025 Event Management Plan to the Chief Officer, Elections and Regulatory.

The minutes from the meeting held on 18 August 2025 included a discussion of a premises licence variation for Roundhay Park, and a decision to grant the application to vary the premise Licence for Roundhay Park as requested, with the additional condition that the increased maximum capacity (i.e. for events where more than 19,999 people but no more than 69,999 are in attendance at any one time) shall apply to no more than six event days (taking place during a single period of two consecutive weeks) in any one calendar year, and that a representative of the licence holder shall attend a meeting of the Licensing Committee to be convened not less than 30 days before the first event at which the increased capacity is to be utilised and, at the request of the chair of the Licensing Committee before any further such event(s), to report on arrangements and answer questions from members.