Minutes

The Chair reminded Members of the need to declare any known interests in any matters to be considered at the meeting.  Councillor Brian Ford made a non prejudicial declaration of interest in respect of Agenda Item No. 6 as he sold Public Liability Insurance.

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 23^rd October 2008, be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

            No public questions were received during the meeting.

            The Head of Licensing submitted a report setting out proposed new procedures for street trading consents.

            Resolved – (1) That, subject to the point 11 of the procedure being amended to include a right of appeal for applicants, the Street Trading Guidance – restrictions, procedures and conditions appended to the report be approved.

            (2)  That the Head of Licensing, in consultation with the Chair, be authorised to amend the procedures approved and set out in the appendix to the report.

            The Head of Licensing submitted a report setting out a proposed scale of fees relating to street trading consents.

       Resolved – (1) That, subject to the inclusion of a definition for market stalls, the scale of street trading fees, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report, be adopted.

       (2) That the setting of routine annual fee updates for street trading be delegated to the Group Director, Environment and Regeneration.

       (3) That the new scale of fees be implemented from 1^st February 2009 and carried through into the financial year 2009/2010 without upward revision.

       (4) That traders who operate on an ongoing basis most days of the week and whose presence is medium term or seasonal will be liable for the full annual fee or a proportion based on months (rounded up to full months). No reduction shall be allowed where traders are constrained to limit their operation to certain days or who choose to trade only on some days of the week (any trader can opt to pay a daily rate if that is advantageous to them).

       (5) That existing ‘weekend only’ traders be granted protection from the full impact of the changes for a period of three years, to the limited extent that their fees will be based for that period on two-sevenths of the annual fee.

       (6) That an annual fee be payable either in relation to a slot for hours between 06:00hrs and 17:59hrs or for a slot between 18:00hrs and 05:59hrs( separate fees are payable in relation to a day-time slot or a night-time slot, even where the pitch used is the same).

       (7) That a discount of 5% will be applied to annual fees where payment is made in full and in advance.

       (8) That annual fees not paid in one sum shall be paid on a quarterly basis.

       (9) That a credit of four days trading will be granted to new traders, once they have paid for and used ten days.

            The Head of Licensing submitted a report regarding proposals on whether to add restrictions to pet shop licenses preventing the sale of cats and dogs.

            Resolved – That a further report addressing the issues raised by Members be submitted to the next meeting of this Committee.