Notice is hereby given that an ORDINARY MEETING of the COUNCIL of the BOROUGH OF BERWICK-UPON-TWEED will be held within the Council Chamber of the Town Hall, Berwick-upon-Tweed on THURSDAY, 23RD SEPTEMBER at 6.00pm.
All Members of the Council are hereby summoned to attend for the purpose of considering and resolving upon the business to be transacted as set out hereunder.
JANE PANNELL
Chief Executive
15th September 2004
To: All Members of the COUNCIL
NOTE FOR ALL MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL : CIVIC RECEPTION FOR VISITORS FROM BERWICK, PENNSYLVANIA
All Members are invited to attend a Civic Reception for the party of visitors from Berwick, Pennsylvania, which will be held in the Guildhall following completion of business at this Ordinary Meeting of the Council.
Refreshments will be served.
AGENDA
1 DECLARATION OF INTEREST
Members are invited to declare any interest they may have in any of the items included on the Summons for this Meeting.
[Note: Any Member wishing to seek clarification as to whether it may be appropriate to declare an interest in respect of any item on this Summons should seek the advice from the Chief Executive or Borough Solicitor at least one working day before the Meeting].
2 To receive the Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Council held on 29th July 2004, Minutes 184 – 191, and pages 1 – 4.
3 To receive such communications or announcements as the Mayor may desire to lay before the Council.
4 POST OFFICE CLOSURES IN BERWICK-UPON-TWEED
Members have been kept informed of proposals by the Post Office Ltd to close four post offices in Berwick-upon-Tweed and replace these with two new purpose-built facilities.
Following consideration of these proposals at an Extraordinary Meeting of Town Committee on 9th September 2004, it was resolved to request that a senior official of the Post Office Ltd be invited to attend this Meeting of the Council to address concerns about a number of aspects of the proposals, including the lack of certainty over the new facilities announced alongside the closure programme. This request has been agreed by the Deputy Mayor in the absence of the Mayor.
Officers have spent considerable time since 9th September attempting to make contact with Post Office Ltd management to invite a representative to the meeting.
At the time of the dispatch of the Summons, officers were still working to set up attendance by a representative of the Post Office Ltd.
• Anticipates radically reviewed Improvement Plan to October Council
• Proposes report format for the future
Purpose:
To update Members on progress with this Council’s recovery and improvement in response to the Audit Commission’s CPA report.
Report:
At Council in July, it was agreed that there would be an update at every Council Meeting on our progress towards improvement. Since that time, the following has occurred.
(a) Our first draft Improvement Plan has been submitted and accepted as a first draft. More work is to be done and it will be a core task of the Improvement Project Team (IPT) to pull together and refine a radically different Improvement Plan. The Audit Commission is offering the resources of Les Watson, who took part in last December’s week-long inspection. Dates have been set for him to begin working with the IPT to support and undertake the task. It will be important that our second Improvement Plan is the subject of consultation and it will, therefore, be submitted to the next meeting of Council for final ratification.
(b) Our Capacity Building Fund bids (CBF) have been submitted and on the recommendation of the Government Office for the North East have been forwarded to London. By the time of this meeting, we anticipate knowing the outcome of our bids.
(c) The Improvement Board (previously called the Steering Group) has been formed and has begun to help guide and direct the IPT. The Board consists:-
Councillor Mrs. A.E. Breckons
Councillor D G R Buckle
Councillor A Hughes
Councillor J D Lockie
Councillor D McClymont
Councillor J W Stephenson
Chief Executive
Director of Environment
Director of Regeneration & Development
Borough Solicitor
Head of Finance (Accountancy & Audit)
Head of Property & Housing
(d) The IPT will have met on several occasions under its Project Team Leader, John McLuckie. It is anticipated that, by the time of this meeting, the vacant post will have been filled – or at least an appointment made. The Team consists:-
Maureen Hattle Alan Lyall
Rob Marriner John McLuckie
Stephanie Menzies April Shelley
Craig White
(e) The Improvement Board and IPT came together for the first FacilitatedWorkshop on the 9th August. This event helped us to identify the work that we need to do and, in particular, created clarity which informs the radical transformation of our Improvement Plan.
(f) Communications Strategy - A key part of the improvement planning process is engaging staff, Councillors, partners and the local community. The process should be open and transparent, with a clear identity and clear messages. All communication will be branded with this logo:-
and will be managed by the Project Team in line with the strategy agreed by the Board. The strategy identifies:-
• key messages, such as how to be involved, what happens next
• communications tools, such as briefings, face to face meetings and the contact points listed on the help cards
• a review and monitoring process
Once communication of the improvement project has been embedded internally, the Project Team will then introduce further plans to engage with a wider audience.
(g) The Member/Leadership Development Programme is the subject of one of the CBF bids but some progress has already been made. Two peer mentors are in the process of being appointed and one was able to attend the facilitated workshop. Three Members have been enrolled on the IDeA Leadership Academy course. Group Leaders have agreed to meet to begin to lead on the leadership issues.
(h) Part of the improvement process involves periodic meetings with Government and allied agencies in what we have called a Multi-Agency Board. It is anticipated that the first such meeting for this Council will be in early November and after Council approval of the new Improvement Plan.
(i) A range of items of work were identified through our Service Plans, the Comprehensive Performance Assessment Report, the Vision Statement and other means. Many of those are work-in-progress and as they are specific rather than thematic issues, will be reported elsewhere.
For future reports, it is proposed that the following format be agreed:-
(a) Update on Improvement Plan
(b) Report of progress: By IPT/Improvement Board
Through Member Development
Other means
(c) External input, events, comments
(j) The Improvement Board recognised that, whilst service delivery must be maintained throughout the process, new potential initiatives should be examined closely to ensure that they both support the improvement process and do not take finite resources away from it. An example that was discussed on the 25th August was the SIMALTO budget consultation exercise.
(k) Achieving maximum involvement by Members in the improvement process is essential. Any Member who needs more information or has an observation, a comment or a contribution to make is asked to contact either John McLuckie or Jane Pannell.
Implications:
Financial:
CBF bids have been submitted and reflect contributions from the existing Best Value budget and, in time, effort and kind by this Council.
Best Value:
Early indications from the Audit Commission suggest that, across Northumberland, an inspection of waste collection, management and disposal will be carried out.
Recommendations : (i) To accept this report; (ii) to agree to comment on a draft Improvement Plan so that it can be finalised at October Council; (iii) and to agree the proposed format for future reports; and make their contribution to the improvement process.
• The LSP is now approaching the second AGM and Annual Stakeholder Event.
• The LSP has produced The Community Strategy (adopted by Council March ’04) and now presents the Community Action Plan.
Purpose:
*** This report covers the work of the LSP Manager over the past twelve months and presents the Community Action Plan for Adoption. (See attached appendices).
Report:
The year has been interesting, stimulating and challenging. Coming to the post from another Local Authority assisted in an awareness of protocols, procedures, standards and national priorities. Having lifelong connections with Berwick and having lived in the town for the last seven years allowed me to start the job running.
However, it has been a steep learning curve. There are some 400 Stakeholders all of whom deserve recognition. There is a broad range of Partnership organisations. The first Partnership Chair resigned last October to pursue his interests in Yorkshire. The development of the Community Strategy Draft was picked up as a work in progress and after several re-writes was endorsed by the BBLSP and then adopted by Council in March 2004.
Since March the work priority has been The Action Plan. It is hoped that the Stakeholder AGM will endorse the Action Plan. There are some 160 Actions in the plan, most of which have both realistic and measurable outcomes. Next it will go before Full Council and if adopted it will be posted on the website to accompany the Constitution and Community Strategy. Berwick Borough will then have produced, in 18 months, the core documents required by The Local Government Act 2000. I believe this puts the LSP in an enviable position; in the top 10% of performance nation-wide.
The influence of the Community Strategy is now starting to be felt. The alignment of Policies, Strategies and Actions is becoming clearer and the first significant evidence of this will be the replacement of the Changing Perceptions Regeneration Strategy by the Community Strategy.
Milestones over the past twelve months
8.09.03 Post commenced
12.09.03 Interim Executive Board
15.09.03 First Stakeholder Event and AGM
Constitution Adopted
21.10.03 Interim Executive Board
3.12.03 Executive Board, Resignation of Chair.
27.01.04 Executive Board
27.02.04 Executive Board
1.03.04 Half Yearly Stakeholder Meeting
Community Strategy Endorsed
New Chair Elected
15.03.04 Executive Board
23.03.04 Full Council
Community Strategy Adopted
07.05.04 Executive Board
25.06.04 Executive Board
3.09.04 Executive Board
22.09.04 Stakeholder Event and AGM
Action Plan to be Endorsed
23.09.04 Full Council
Community Action Plan Presented
The LSP Targets for the next twelve months are:
• Monitor and update the Community Strategy
• Monitor and update the Action Plan
• Develop and implement a Communications Strategy for BBLSP
• Develop links to evidencing Local Development Framework
Implications
Equal Opportunities:
Equality is one of the four Strategic Principles of the Community Strategy. Consideration has been and will be given to the implications of Equality in all Sector Board discussion.
Best Value:
The principles of Best Value apply to all publicly funded projects. The LSP is publicly funded and has to seek Best Value because funding is limited.
Improvement Plan:
Whilst the LSP is not directly involved in the Improvement Plan the community Strategy and Action Plan should be the overarching Strategy Document for the Borough. Council is invited to draw from this.
Agenda 21:
Sustainability is the first of the Strategic Principles of the Community Strategy. The Environment and Energy Sector Board covers most of the A21 remit and discussions have been initiated to amalgamate the two groups (most of the groups membership is common).
Financial / Personnel and Legal:
The LSP is funded externally and has accounted for all funds received. Northumberland County Council completed an external audit in July 2004.
Recommendation:To adopt the Community Action Plan and support the LSP targets for the next twelve months.
Over the next twelve months the Targets are:
• Monitor and update the Community Strategy
• Monitor and update the Action Plan
• Develop and implement a Communications Strategy for BBLSP
• Develop links to evidencing Local Development Framework
• Present Draft Statement of Licensing Policy; and
• Seeks Members approval.
Purpose:
To agree the Draft Statement of Licensing Policy upon which consultation has been commenced with the statutory and other consultees.
Report:
The Council is, by virtue of Section 1(1)(a) of the Licensing Act 2003, a Licensing Authority.
Section 5 of the 2003 Act requires a Licensing Authority to publish its Statement of Licensing Policy (the Licensing Policy) with respect to the exercise of its licensing functions, having consulted on and determined its policy
The Draft Statement of Licensing Policy (the Draft Policy) was prepared by David B Wilson, Senior Licensing Officer, and approved by Liam Henry, Borough Solicitor, from a generic document prepared by the Solicitors and Licensing Officers of the District and Borough Councils within Northumberland.
The Draft Policy was approved by the Licensing Committee on 4 August 2004 so that consultation could be commenced on 13 August 2004 for the recommended period of 12 weeks to 5 November 2004.
The Guidance, at paragraphs 3.8 to 3.11, issued under the 2003 Act, detail the fundamental principles to be met when determining the Licensing Policy. These may be summarised as:-
• The Licensing Policy should begin by stating the four licensing objectives (paragraph 3.8);
• The Licensing Authority must have regard to the Guidance (paragraph 3.8);
• The Licensing Authority must give appropriate weight to the views of those it has consulted (paragraph 3.8);
• The Licensing Policy may set out a general approach to the making of licensing decisions, but must not ignore or be inconsistent with provisions in the 2003 Act (paragraph 3.9);
• A Licensing Policy should not override the right of any person to make representations on an application or to seek a review of a licence or certificate where provision has been made for them to do so in the 2003 Act (paragraph 3.10);
• A Licensing Policy should make it clear that licensing is about regulating the carrying on of licensable activities on licensed premises, by qualifying clubs and at temporary events within the terms of the 2003 Act (paragraph 3.11);
• The Licensing Policy should make it clear that the conditions attached to various authorisations will be focused on matters which are within the control of individual licensees and others in possession of relevant authorisations (paragraph 3.11);
• A Licensing Policy should make it clear that the Licensing Authority will primarily focus on the direct impact of the activities taking place at the licensed premises on members of the public living, working or engaged in normal activity “in the vicinity” of those premises (paragraph 3.11);
• A Licensing Policy should make it clear that licensing law is not the primary mechanism for the general control of nuisance and anti-social behaviour by individuals once they are away from the licensed premises and , therefore, beyond the direct control of the individual, club or business holding the licence, certificate or authorisation concerned (paragraph 3.11); and
• A Licensing Policy should make it clear that licensing law is nonetheless always a key aspect of the control of nuisance and anti-social behaviour and will always be part of a holistic approach to the management of the evening and night-time economy in town (and city) centres (paragraph 3.11).
Section 3 of the 2003 Act specifies the statutory consultees, being the Police; the Fire Authority; such persons as the Licensing Authority considers to be representative of holders of Premises Licences, Club Premises Certificates and Personal Licences (even though these do not yet exist); and such other persons as the Licensing Authority considers to be representative of businesses and residents in its area.
The Draft Policy has been circulated to the Town Committee and all Parish Councils within the Borough, together with an offer that either the Senior Licensing Officer or the Borough Solicitor would attend Meetings to make a presentation on the Act, the Draft Policy and to answer any questions. To date, that offer has not been accepted by the Town Committee or any Parish Council.
The Chamber of Trade; the Business Forum; Agenda 21; the Energy and Environment Sector Board; and the Health and wellbeing Sector Board have also been consulted.
Furthermore, within the Council, the Director of Environment; the Director of Regeneration and Development; the Community Safety Officer; and the Drugs Development Worker have also been consulted.
On 21 June 2004 a Press Release was issued in which “anyone who believes they have a contribution to make” on the consultation of the Council’s Draft Policy was invited to notify the Senior Licensing Officer of their wish to be so consulted. On or about 12 July 2004, a letter was sent to the Licensees of all premises presently believed to hold a Justices’ Licence, advising them of the forthcoming consultation process. Furthermore, the Senior Licensing Officer has, in the course of his work, invited licensees and others who may be affected by the 2003 Act to indicate if they should wish to be involved in the consultation process.
As a result of the foregoing, 39 people or organisations as diverse as nightclub and off-licence licensees; country house hotels; caravan parks, outward bound centres and wedding and conference centre operators; organisers of country shows; the National Trust; and firms of solicitors asked to be included in this Council’s consultation process and have been so consulted.
On or about 13 August 2004, a further letter was sent to the Licensees of all premises presently believed to hold a Justices’ Licence and / or an annual Public Entertainment advising them that consultation has commenced and from where the Draft Policy was available.
The Draft Policy is available as a Public Document on the Council’s web site, as well as being available for inspection at Reception at the Council Offices and copies are being provided, as and when requested, to other who express a wish to be consulted.
Public Notices, publicising the consultation process appeared in the Berwick Advertiser and the Northumberland Gazette on 19 August 2004.
Further publicity was achieved when a Media Release issued by the Council was published as a front page story in the Berwick Advertiser on 26 August 2004.
On or about 1 September 2004 letters were sent to almost 150 establishments, identified from Environmental Health data, as possibly serving hot food or hot drinks between 11.00pm and 5.00am and advising of the changes to the law which may require them to become licensed under the 2003 Act when they have not necessarily been subject to licensing previously. The letter also advised of the Draft Policy, the consultation process and from where the Draft Policy could be obtained.
The Senior Licensing Officer attended the Licensed Victuallers' Association (the LVA) Meeting on 10 August 2004, before the commencement of consultation and made a presentation to them on the Act and the purpose of a Licensing Policy. He has been invited to make a further presentation to the LVA on 5 October 2004.
By virtue of the provisions of Section 3(1)(a) of the 2003 Act, the Licensing Authority is the Council, not the Licensing Committee. However, by its Constitution the Council has delegated its licensing responsibilities to the Licensing Committee. It was the view of Officers that the Licensing Committee could approve the Draft Policy for the commencement of consultation, but the determination of the Licensing Policy will ultimately have to be made by Council. As a consequence, the commencement of consultation on the Draft Policy is being hereby reported to Council at the Meeting on 23 September 2004.
Consultation commenced on 13 August 2004 and the Licensing Committee approved consultation for the recommended 12 weeks period, ending 5 November 2004.
Following consultation, the Senior Licensing Officer will report to the Licensing Committee, having analysed the responses to the consultation. It is proposed that a Meeting of the Licensing Committee will be scheduled for the week commencing 29 November 2004 (possibly Wednesday 1 December 2004).
The comments of the Licensing Committee will then be incorporated into the Draft Policy and that amended Draft Policy placed before Council before being adopted by Council at its Statement of Licensing Policy. It is proposed, subject to the views expressed by the aforementioned Meeting of the Licensing Committee, that the Draft Policy (amended as appropriate) be placed before the Meeting of Council on 16 December 2004 and, should that not be possible, there would need to be a further Meeting of Council before 7 January 2005.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport only caused Licensing Authorities to be informed of the 7 January 2005 date on 13 September 2004. Prior to this announcement, it had been understood that the Policy would have to have been approved and published by 7 February 2005, being the ‘First Appointed Day’ and the first day of the transition period. As a consequence of this announcement, it is no longer possible for this matter to go back to the Meeting of Council on 20 January 2005.
There follows a table showing the proposed schedule for consultation and determination of Licensing Policy:-
Date
Action to be taken
4 August 2004
Meeting of Licensing Committee –Draft Policy for consultation approved
13 August 2004
Consultation process began
5 November 2004
Consultation process to end
w/c 29 November 2004
Proposed date for Meeting of Licensing Committee – to consider responses to the consultation process
16 December 2004
Meeting of Council – to approve Licensing Policy, subject to further consideration being necessary
post 16 December 2004
and
pre 7 January 2005
Meeting of Council – to approve Licensing Policy
Implications:
Financial:
The revenue income to be gained by the Council in respect of fees arising from applications made under the 2003 Act cannot yet be quantified as the Government are still to advise on the scale of such fees. There are, at present, just over 200 premises holding Justices’ Licences; about 30 other premises holding only Public Entertainment Licences; and 2 premises holding Cinema and/or Theatre Licences and a presently unquantifiable number of hot food establishments providing late night refreshments.
Legal:
*** These are as detailed within the report and the Draft Policy annexed hereto.
Personnel:
There are no issues arising in this regard.
Crime and Disorder:
The implications concerning crime and disorder are as detailed within the report, in which it will be noted that the Police, the Community Safety Officer and the Drug Development Worker, together with many others, are to be consulted on the Draft Policy.
Recommendation: To approve the Draft Statement of Licensing Policy for consultation
8 To receive and consider the Minutes of the Proceedings of Committee as under:
Committee
Date
Minutes
Licensing
4th August 2004
191 (A-E)
Policy (Environment)
1st September 2004
197 - 213
Planning
7th September 2004
214 - 217
Extraordinary Meeting of Town Committee
9th September 2004
218 - 223
Policy (Corporate Services & Regeneration)
15th September 2004
To be confirmed at the meeting
Overview and Scrutiny
21st September 2004
To be confirmed at the meeting
9 QUESTIONS
(i) From Members
To answer questions from Members (if any) under Rules of Procedure Sections 10.2 and 10.3 of the Constitution.
(ii) From Members of the Public
To answer questions from members of the public (if any) under Rules and Procedure Section 9.1 of the Constitution.
[Note: Members are referred to pages 47-49 of the Constitution which explain the Rules governing the form of Questions, and the manner in which questions should be put and to whom].
10 EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC
The Committee are asked to consider passing the following resolution:
'That under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the Meeting during consideration of the following items on the grounds that they would involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I Schedule 12A of the Act:
Item 11 : Paragraph 9 : Any terms proposed or to be proposed by or to the authority in the course of negotiations for a contract for the acquisition or disposal of property or the supply of good or services.
PART II
The Press and Public are likely to be requested to leave the meeting during consideration of the items set out in Part II of this Agenda.
