Announcements are expected on taxis and PHVs, gambling and alcohol
It was great to be able to get together for the LGA’s annual licensing conference in February to discuss and reflect on some of the key developments that will impact councils’ licensing committees and teams over the coming year.
We heard from expert speakers who covered a wide range of issues, including licensing and counterterrorism, how to secure alignment between licensing and planning regimes, and best practice in fee setting.
This is already shaping up to be another significant year for licensing, with important announcements expected, including: the long-awaited outcome of the Gambling Act Review; the Department for Transport’s best practice guidance consultation on licensing taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs); and several Home Office consultations relating to alcohol and entertainment licensing.
We were pleased to hear from Local Transport Minister Richard Holden, about his plans for taxi and PHV licensing. The Government’s Levelling Up White Paper, which contains a proposal to transfer control of taxi and PHV licensing to both combined and upper-tier authorities, was of particular interest.
The minister said work on this will begin later in the year and that the department is keen to hear the views of councils. The LGA’s Safer and Stronger Communities Board has expressed initial concerns about safeguarding and reduced local accountability in relation to these proposals.
“This is already shaping up to be another significant year for licensing”
Cllr Jeanie Bell, one of the LGA’s Licensing Champions, also gave a presentation on how to link licensing into your council’s priorities. Cllr Bell shared how her authority, St Helens Borough Council, sought to tackle unemployment following the pandemic by launching a ‘Ways 2 Work Scheme’. This offers potential taxi and PHV drivers a fully funded level 2 qualification and a number of financial support incentives. Cllr Bell also shared how St Helens has secured greater alignment between licensing and community safety. For example, licensing was moved into her remit as Cabinet Member for Safer, Stronger Communities and St Helens’ licensing manager sits as a key partner on anti-social behaviour meetings and the community safety executive, and works closely with partners on joint enforcement and compliance visits. This has proved to be invaluable in sharing intelligence and ensuring greater alignment of work.
As well as reaffirming the importance of licensing in keeping our communities safe, secure and healthy, the conference gave us a chance to highlight how the LGA has updated its support offer to assist officers with the process of inducting new members onto licensing committees. We have refreshed our licensing e-learning module, which provides an overview of the role and responsibilities of a member of a licensing committee, and have developed an accompanying series of scenario-based licensing videos, which cover the main areas.
The LGA is also running a bi-annual Licensing Leadership Essentials course. This two-day interactive course is aimed at chairs and vice-chairs, and focuses on how good committees are run. The course is fully funded by the LGA and has received excellent feedback.
These and other resources on our website.