(a)

Licensing Committee: 3 December 2019

(b)

Licensing Sub Committee -

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19 November 2019

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17 December 2019

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7 January 2020

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4 February 2020

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17 March 2020

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12 May 2020

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24 July 2020

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18 August 2020

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29 September 2020

(1)

Licensing Committee -

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3 December 2019;

(2)

Licensing Sub Committee -

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19 November 2019;

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17 December 2019;

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7 January 2020;

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4 February 2020;

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17 March 2020;

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12 May 2020;

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24 July 2020;

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18 August 2020;

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29 September 2020.

(a)

the consent fees were adjusted in 2020/21 by 1.5% and for the year 2021/22 it was proposed that the Consent fees were not increased for any Street Trading sites; this was due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the financial pressures being placed on existing street traders during 2020/21 trading year, together with the decrease in footfall in the city centre;

(b)

as the current situation with the pandemic was constantly changing it was considered that the 2021/22 trading year would be less about income and more about supporting the high street and trades in the recovery process; in addition to this, three street traders had recently been lost and by maintaining static fees, it was hoped that this would encourage new street traders to apply for trade in the city centre;

(c)

during the 2021/22 trading year, work on New George Street and Old Town Street would be started by both Plymouth City Council and British Land; this would result in the probable temporary displacement of two of the current street traders and possible impact on others; during this period it was proposed to investigate temporary sites for displace traders and also for new static and roaming pitches within the city centre to add vibrancy and new traders to the high street; the proposed pitches would be submitted to the Committee early in 2021 when the plans for the work had been confirmed;

(d)

during the summer of 2020 ‘the pub on the piazza’ was put on the main piazza with paying concessions and the opportunity for pop-up traders;

it was proposed to hold a similar event in 2021.

(e)

whether –

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consideration had been given to freezing the fees for 2021/22 due to the impact of the pandemic on the street traders;

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the Council’s policy for new pitches was too prescriptive and whether this should include street food and not just ice cream traders;

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consideration had been given to reducing the fees in order to encourage a greater take up of pitches and therefore generate higher revenue;

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consideration had been given to providing street traders with inducements;

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progress had been made on investigating the cost of installing electrical hook up points;

(f)

sought clarification -

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as to how the vacant sites were advertised (eg in trade magazines) and the need during quieter times for promotional work to take place on the piazza;

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on the difference between ad hoc street trading and roaming sites;

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on how many pitches were available and how many were currently vacant;

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on whether the application form for street trading sites included whether the vehicle was compatible with an electric hook up;

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on whether other forms of energy had been considered such  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

(a)

the excellent partnership working had been identified through the prestigious Purple Flag award for the city; this identified Plymouth as having a safe, vibrant and diverse evening and night time economy and was a great benefit to the city for marketing purposes; this was highlighted nationally when Plymouth Purple Flag application was awarded a national award for Best Wellbeing, whilst being runner-up for the Best Movement and the Best Diversity and Safety awards; to be shortlisted for so many awards as a new scheme was unprecedented;

(b)

one venue had been subject to a Licensing Sub Committee review at which it had its licence suspended for three months, after numerous incidents of disorder had been linked to the area due to an increase in street drinking; this venue had taken the decision not to sell alcohol in the future;

(c)

a venue which had been part of a multi-agency operation had been a large amount of suspect tobacco and alcohol products which had been seized; this venue had also been subject to a Licensing Sub Committee review at which it had its licence revoked;

(d)

a venue which had failed to adapt its management accordingly following a number of interventions, continued to have incidents occurring at the venue; the premises had been issued with a s.76 Policing, Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2014 notice which closed the premises for 24 hours (this was further extended to 48 hours); following the presentation of evidence to the Magistrates Court a s.80 Closure Order had been granted to close the premises for three months;

(e)

a number of evening and night time economy initiatives had been undertaken including working with Door Supervisor companies to tackle knife and further training had been delivered for the Ask for Angela campaign in conjunction with Best Bar None;

(f)

with the co-operation of a large number of venues in the city, a three month drink spiking trial was undertaken, whereby an estimated 300,000 people attended venues which had been equipped with drink testing kits; also police vehicles had been equipped with urine testing kits; any person who suspected that their drink had been spiked could alert a venue member of staff could have their drink tested, as well as an urine test; the results showed that over 96% of cases which could have been reported in a drink spiking crime report were negative; this significantly reduced the number of recorded crimes; the scheme would be rolled out across the whole force area and was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

(1)

Licensing Sub Committee -

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24 July 2020;

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18 August 2020.