Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

To agree the minutes of the Committee meeting held on 18 December 2018

The Minutes of the meeting held on 18 December 2018 were signed as a true record.

There were no outstanding issues.

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place)

The Committee considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive, Place, which asked the Committee to consider whether or not to waive the requirement to hold a Sex Establishment Licence for a two-day Erotica Trade Only Show to be held at the Ricoh Arena in March 2019.  The event overview was appended to the report.

Schedule 3 Paragraph 7 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 makes provision for the Council to waive the requirement to hold a sex establishment licence in any case where it considers that to require a licence would be unreasonable or inappropriate.  A waiver may be for such a period as the Council thinks fit.

The report indicated that the event would be trade only and admission by invitation only.  There would be no general public access and no wider advertising of the event to the general public.  The event would be strictly over 18’s and controls would be in place to verify this at the event.

The Committee questioned officers on aspects of the report including the reasons why the Equalities Impact Assessment was deemed as not relevant, safeguards in place to check bona fide companies and costs incurred by the Council to facilitate the process to grant a waiver of fees.

The event organisers were in attendance at the meeting and answered questions in respect of their application during which they gave assurance that under 18’s would not be permitted entry to the event as their ID would be checked during the registration process as would proof of trade (this being a trade-only event).  On the day, Ricoh door staff would be operating the Challenge 21 in the same way that pubs and clubs do.

Licensing officers also gave assurance that they would be visiting the event during the day to check compliance.

The Committee noted that the cost of a sex establishment licence application was £5768 and that the Council was unable to pro-rata the fee as the application process was the same irrespective of the duration of the licence and whether the licence was time-limited. Arising from discussion, the Committee expressed concern that there was no provision to pro-rata the fee and asked that officers investigate the possibility of changing the policy to allow a pro-rata fee to be charged for any future events of this nature.

RESOLVED that the Committee:

(a)  Agree to waive the requirement to hold a Sex Establishment Licence for a two day Erotica Trade Only show to be held at the Ricoh Arena in March 2019.

(b)  Request that Officers investigate the possibility of changing the current policy to allow a pro-rata fee to be charged for any future events of this nature and that a report be presented to the Cabinet Member for their consideration.

There were no other items of public business.