Public Health and Licensing Guidance

Transcription

1 Public Health and Licensing Guidance A simple guide for responding to applications as a responsible authority October 2014 Developed by the Safe Sociable London Partnership on behalf of Public Health England London Authors: Dr Matthew Andrews, Dr Ghazaleh Pashmi and Maria Smolar Public Health and Licensing Guidance Page 1

2 CONTENTS Page 3: Introduction Page 4: The Licensing Act 2003 and the role of Public Health Page 8: Guide to developing a process Page 18: Additional Guidance Page 20: Appendix 1 Licensing Objectives Page 22: Appendix 2 Standard Licensing Process Acknowledgements We would like to thank the following people for their support and involvement in the development of this document: James Nichols (ARUK), DCI John Cushion (MPS), Ali Wheeler (Drinkwise UK), Dr David Humphreys (Oxford University), and Steve Forgan (Safestats GLA). We would also like to thank Haifa Kelifa (SSLP) for the development of some of the supporting documents. Public Health and Licensing Guidance Page 2

3 PART 1: INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION The aim of this guidance is to provide a template for Directors of Public Health to establish an operational process to quickly, easily and effectively respond to alcohol licensing applications. This guidance will: Explain the legislative framework and existing licensing process; Outline the new responsibilities of Directors of Public Health with regard to alcohol licensing; Provide guidance for establishing a best practice process for Directors of Public Health to respond to licensing applications; Guidance on specific licensing aspects and issues; and, Provide templates to be used in a licensing process. In 2012 changes to the 2003 Licensing Act made Directors of Public Health a responsible authority. This is a new power for Directors of Public Health and although the availability of alcohol is a key determinant in population level alcohol related harm, it is not an area that Directors of Public Health generally have had a role previously. Directors of Public Health are now expected to operate the role of a responsible authority under the Licensing Act The detail of what this includes is outlined in the next section of this guidance. The intention of this change was to bring evidence from the health sector into licensing processes; however, the licensing objectives were not expanded to include health or public health as an objective of the Licensing Act In 2012 in response to requests from Directors of Public Health for support an initial brief guidance was issued recommending the development of a clear process by Public Health teams using available data to provide the evidence base for responding to applications. In early 2013 a licensing datapack was issued by the Department of Health to support this process. Shortly after this a pilot project to implement a public health licensing process was initiated in the London Borough of Lambeth. The guidance in this document is based on the process developed for the London Borough of Lambeth and provides an outline of how a licensing process can be developed and implemented and further guidance on issues that may arise and will need to have a considered position developed for them. Public Health and Licensing Guidance Page 3

4 PART 2: THE LICENSING ACT 2003 AND THE ROLE OF PUBLIC HEALTH The Licensing Act 2003 regulates the sale and supply of alcohol. The Act has four licensing objectives which must be taken into account when a local authority carries out its functions. They are 1. The prevention of crime and disorder, 2. Public safety, 3. Prevention of public nuisance; and, 4. The protection of children from harm. 1 A copy of the Licensing Act 2003 can be found at: Amended guidance issued under 182 of the Licensing Act 2003 June 2013 can be found at: Licensing_Act_2003_2_.pdf THE ROLE OF DIRECTORS OF PUBLIC HEALTH The 2012 amendment to the Licensing Act 2003 made a health authority a responsible authority for the purposes of licensing decision making. Department of Health guidance on the role of the Director of Public Health from October 2012 confirms that the Director of Public Health is the responsible Health authority under the Licensing Act ( Section 182 guidance states the role of Public Health as a responsible authority: Where a local authority s Director of Public Health in England (DPH) or Local Health Board (LHB) (in Wales) acts as a responsible authority, they should have sufficient knowledge of the licensing policy and health issues in order to be able to fulfil this function. If they wish to make representations, the DPH or Public Health and Licensing Guidance Page 4 1. See appendices for further discussion.

5 LHB will need to decide how best to gather and coordinate evidence from other bodies exercising health functions in the area, such as emergency departments and ambulance services. 2 This role in the licensing process clearly aligns with public health aims. Reducing individual and population level harms resulting from the misuse of alcohol is a key aim for many public health organisations in London and England. The World Health Organization Global Alcohol Strategy identifies the availability of alcohol as one of ten areas for national action ( abuse/activities/gsrhua/en/), and the international research base shows that licensing frameworks for regulating the availability of alcohol are an important tool for reducing alcohol related harm. The involvement of Directors of Public Health in this process is both core to their responsibilities and important for supporting local action to reduce alcohol related harm. The Director of Public Health also has the scope to apply public health principles as well as health sector data and evidence to the licensing process. Public health principles and the aims that you have identified for public health in your local area should drive the way you are involved in the process. Public health is likely to bring a population level focus to an area of public policy that has traditionally focused on the premises or the high street. In particular there is a role for applying public health principles through the application of conditions, both through submissions to the licensing subcommittee and those negotiated directly with the applicant. PREPARING FOR INVOLVEMENT: DEVELOPING THE NECESSARY KNOWLEDGE AND CONSIDERATION There are a number of actions that a Director of Public Health or delegate can take to prepare themselves to be involved in the licensing process. These include: Consider what the public health aims are for this role in the licensing process: Having a clear and specific vision for what public health outcomes are to be achieved through involvement in the licensing process is important to guide public health involvement and to make it clear to other partners and those involved in the licensing process why public health is involved and how public health intends to engage with the process. Meet with your licensing partners (Licensing, Trading Standards and Police) to discuss expectations and roles. Read your local Statement of Licensing Policy: This document outlines the intended approach to all licensing issues in the local authority area and outlines special policies that need to be taken into account. Read Home Office Section 182 guidance: this provides the clearest explanation of expectations on how the legislation operates in practice. Understand the data that you have access to, so as to have an understanding of the limits of the evidence that you can provide. It is also advisable to ensure you have an analyst who is signed up to have access to the Safestats website. ( Public Health and Licensing Guidance Page pg 61, paragraph 9.20.

6 Meet with the borough licensing solicitor to discuss process and public health involvement: this will ensure a clear understanding of the legal approach by public health and will help to increase the licensing solicitor s understanding of public health approaches and motivations in being involved in the process. Attend a licensing sub-committee meeting prior to making first representation: this will ensure that you gain an understanding of how your local authority licensing sub-committee operates and will provide useful experience in how the process operates in action. Attend a licensing visit: attending a local licensing, police licensing, trading standards or joint licensing visit or enforcement exercise can provide useful experience on the issues facing licensing authorities in practice. It may also help build partnership relations with the other responsible authorities. Read a range of model conditions 3 and the mandatory conditions 4 : Having an understanding of the mandatory conditions and access to a range of model conditions increases scope to request conditions on an application to achieve a public health outcome through the four licensing objectives. A range of these are linked below: file/209526/1167-a_licensing_act_2003_2_.pdf ( PG 65Conditions attached to premises licences and club premises certificates pool-of-model-conditions.pdf WHAT THE LICENSING OBJECTIVES MEAN FOR PUBLIC HEALTH Under the Licensing Act 2003 all licensing applications and all representations made on licensing applications must address one or more of the four licensing objectives. The four objectives will have different relevance to Directors of Public Health and will provide different opportunities to respond to licensing applications. Guidance on the licensing objectives is provided in the amended Section 182 Guidance (linked to on page 4), and there is further discussion in Appendix 1. The objectives are each relevant to the role of the Director of Public Health as a responsible authority and an example of how a Director of Public Health may respond to a licensing application relating to each of the objectives is outlined below. 1. The prevention of crime and disorder: A Director of Public Health might put in a representation to a licence application citing the high level of ambulance recorded assaults or A&E assaults. 2. Public safety: A Director of Public Health may have access to last drinks survey data, A&E and ambulance data indicating a high number of alcohol poisoning cases coming from a particular premises, or from within its near vicinity. This may also support Police and Licensing team evidence of a premises serving to intoxicated patrons. Public Health and Licensing Guidance Page 6 3. Model conditions are licensing conditions recommended by various licensing authorities for applicants to consider as voluntary conditions on their licensing application. 4. Mandatory conditions are required on all new licenses and are outlined in secondary legislation.

7 3. Prevention of public nuisance: The Director of Public Health engages with local residents and supports their representations on a premises application for extended trading hours and provides a representation requesting noise related conditions or objecting to an extension of hours for an application using evidence on the health impacts that sleep deficit can have on the local residents. 4. The protection of children from harm: A Director of Public Health submits evidence on the domestic violence towards children rates in an area that are linked to alcohol consumption to object to an application for an off-licence to extend its hours based on the cumulative impact this would have on domestic violence towards children in the immediate area. Although the licensing objectives do not include a health objective, there is a health and wellbeing angle to each of them. It is also possible for a Director of Public Health to have an independent and supporting role as a responsible authority. The above provide some examples that do not cover the full range of opportunities for public health involvement, but outline some composite examples of actions that have been taken by responsible authorities that directly draw on the connection of health to the existing objectives. Public Health and Licensing Guidance Page 7

8 PART 3: GUIDE TO DEVELOPING A PROCESS Step 1 - Criteria! Step 3 - Engagement with partners! Step 5 - Representations: written and presented! Step 2 - Scanning tool and data! Step 4 - Decision making! This section outlines a stepped approach to assessing and responding to licensing applications. It is recommended that if a process based on this guidance is being developed, it should take account of each step as these have been designed to meet the requirements of the licensing legislation and licensing processes together the steps form a robust, evidence-based and effective way for public health to be involved in the licensing application process. 1. STEP ONE IDENTIFYING CRITERIA AND SIFTING Step 1 - Criteria Step 3 - Engagement with partners Step 5 - Representajons: wriken and presented Step 2 - Scanning tool and data Step 4 - Decision making Public health may not have the ability or need to respond to every application. To save time and manage the work flow of applications establishing a criteria identifying applications that public health should respond to is advisable. Public Health and Licensing Guidance Page 8

9 Each Director of Public Health will need to consider the issues that affect their local populations most and therefore what the criteria for applications should be. Each application will indicate clearly what is being sought by the applicant and will cover hours of operation, off or on licence status (or both) and whether it is an ongoing application or one for a specific event or fixed period of time. Other information will provide context, e.g. location, whether food is being served or live music performances undertaken, however, the key information is likely to be in the hours and days of sale of alcohol and the manner in which alcohol is sold (eg. off or on sales). This information will be helpful to identify which applications PH may want to consider and which applications need no further comment. Below is a suggested way of setting up criteria for responding to applications. Red and green criteria have been set up that will indicate if the application needs to be looked at further (red) or if it meets the green criteria and further investigation isn t needed. The following information can be found on the application itself. RED Possible criteria (based on issues highlighted in some boroughs) could include, but are not limited to: Off licences Any application for hours after midnight or before 8 am Anything within a cumulative impact policy Night clubs Premises reviews by other responsible authorities High volume or vertical drinking establishments. GREEN Possible criteria (based on area identified as of low concern in some boroughs) could include, but are not limited to: Restaurants before midnight Food venue before midnight Theatre Bars before midnight Changes to the Designated Premises Supervisor Temporary Event Notices (TENs) as the Director of Public Health does not have the remit to respond to these. Public Health and Licensing Guidance Page 9

10 2. STEP TWO SCANNING TOOLS AND DATA Step - riteria Step 3 - Engagement with partners Step 5 - Representajons: wriken and presented Step - Scanning tool and data Step 4 - Decision making Once a Red Flag has been determined for an application through the criteria, it is then necessary to examine the data relating to the licensed premises and the context within which it operates, and establish the evidence that would back a representation. If it is deemed that there is suitable data to establish an evidence base then a representation should be considered. If it is deemed that there is not suitable data to establish an evidence base the application can still be discussed with licensing partners in case they identify a way public health can support or add to their possible representation. In order to assess the data we recommend the development of a set of scanning tools including locality and hot spot data to help inform the development of an evidence base. The Safe Sociable London Partnership in conjunction with the Safe Stats team at the Greater London Authority have developed a scanning tool a sample of the Dashboard and Bullesye document has been included in this pack to assist with development and populating of a scanning tool. SCANNING TOOL KIT The scanning tool kit has been developed as a way of pulling together and presenting data that forms the evidence base for the representation. The scanning tool provides an initial scan to highlight the need and the reason behind going forward with a representation. It is made up of a traffic light dashboard to outline whether the ward area is of concern and a bullseye dashboard to identify the actual data on incidents within the near proximity of the premises. The data from the scanning tool kit is not premise specific; however, it is postcode specific which is in close proximity. For public health data the context within which the premise operates is the key issue rather than the premises itself. BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE DASHBOARDS The Bullseye and Traffic Light Dashboards were developed for the purposes of scanning for and revealing trends related potentially to alcohol licensing. These products are intended as a first step toward making the most of shared data in this way. Public Health and Licensing Guidance Page 10

11 TRAFFIC LIGHT DASHBOARD The Traffic Light Dashboard looks at ward level data and provides an overview of how the ward is ranked against other wards in the borough for the following data sets. AMBULANCE DATA: Rank of all assaults Rank of sexual assaults Rank of all weapons injuries Rank of knife injuries Rank of gun injuries Rank of assaults against ambulance crews Alcohol illness by age range POLICE DATA: Rank of all violence Rank of rape Rank of theft from person Rank personal robbery Rank criminal damage Rank possession of drugs MPS ASB rank MPS possession of weapon OTHER DATA SOURCES: Night time violence disorder Deliberate fires Deprivation indicators British Transport Police drunken behavior Transport for London alcohol related disturbance Some of this data is of more specific use than others; however, it does assist in providing a context for an initial scan USER INPUT Lambeth: Year to March 2014 SELECT POSTCODE FROM LIST WARD WARD NAME CLICK HERE> SW8 1SP 00AYGK Oval PREVENTION OF CRIME AND DISORDER ALCOHOL ILLNESS TREATED BY LONDON AMBULANCE SERVICE AMBULANCE DATA ambulance data RANK ALL ASSAULTS RANK SEXUAL ASSAULTS AGED 8-17 AGED out of 21 wards 8 out of 21 wards 6 out of 21 wards 3 out of 21 wards RANK ALL WEAPON INJURIES RANK KNIFE INJURY AGED AGED 8-39 AGED out of 21 wards 3 out of 21 wards 2 out of 21 wards 2 out of 21 wards 2 RANK GUN INJURIES RANK VIOLENCE AGAINST AMBULANCE CREW 5 out of 21 wards 12 out of 21 wards DEPRIVATION ward summaries INCOME DEPRIVATION EMPLOYMENT DEPRIVATION POLICE DATA: recorded crime and ASB 11 out of 21 wards 12 out of 21 wards RANK ALL VIOLENCE RANK RAPE 4 out of 21 wards 4 out of 21 wards AVERAGE DEPRIVATION RANK BY MOST DEPRIVED SUB WARD AREA 12 out of 21 wards 18 out of 21 wards RANK THEFT FROM PERSON (OTHER) RANK PERSONAL ROBBERY 4 out of 21 wards 7 out of 21 wards PUBLIC TRANSPORT ALCOHOL RELATED INCIDENTS RANK CRIMINAL DAMAGE RANK POSSESSION OF DRUGS 3 out of 21 wards 3 out of 21 wards BTP DRUNKEN BEHAVIOUR TFL ALCOHOL RELATED DISTURBANCE 2 out of 21 wards 2105 out of 21 wards MPS ASB RANK MPS POSSESSION OF WEAPON 3 7 WELL BEING Other data sources 9 RANK Life Expectancy NIGHT TIME VIOLENT DISORDER DELIBERATE FIRES 12 RANK Incapacity claimant rate -index RANK Crime rate - Index 7 RANK Average Capped GCSE and Equivalent Point Score Per Pupil 21 RANK Unauthorised Absence in All Schools (%) Probation Clients with Alcohol misuse Risk Probation Clients Alcohol Risk and High risk of causing harm 5 RANK Dependent children in out-of-work families RANK Public Transport Accessibility 3 RANK Homes with access to open space & nature, and % greenspace 14 RANK Elections turnout - index Public Health and Licensing Guidance Page 11

12 BULLSEYE DASHBOARD The Bullseye looks at more specific incidents and the potential cumulative impact they may have. It provides detailed proximity data on the following data sets: On-licenses Off licenses Both on and off licenses All licenses Ambulance recorded assaults Gun, knife and weapon injuries Head injuries Least serious injuries (used as a proxy for alcohol related assaults) Alcohol related ambulance pick-ups Alcohol related ambulance pick-ups under 26 Bus driver reported ASB Bus driver reported violence British Transport Police recorded ASB British Transport Police recorded violence British Transport Police criminal damage Nearby schools Full versions of the two tools have been developed for a number of boroughs (and these borough specific tools are available on the Safestats website ( safestats). Boroughs can access these versions at this website and develop their own versions. This is a free sign-up website and we recommend that at least one public health analyst in each local authority area sign-up to have access to Safe Stats. This is a free website operated by the Greater London Authority and so will be of limited use outside of the 33 local authority areas of Greater London. Public Health and Licensing Guidance Page 12

13 STEP THREE ENGAGING WITH PARTNERS AND OTHERS Step - riteria Step 3 - ngage ent it partners Step 5 - Representajons: wriken and presented Step 2 - Scanning tool and data Step 4 - Decision making Engagement is a vitally important step. This includes engagement with other licensing partners and responsible authorities, but can also include engagement directly with applicants as a method for negotiating mutually agreeable outcomes. LICENSING PARTNERS Engaging with licensing partners allows for comprehensive involvement in the licensing process and provides opportunities to support each other s representations to applications. If you haven t already engaged with your licensing colleagues it is worth while setting up an initial interview/introductory session with licensing stake holders to. Understand other RA s role and their issues Convey PH expected role and what other RA s expect from PH What resources and levers each RA has If there are any forums, lists etc. that public health can be added to. APPLICANTS It is also encouraged to contact applicants directly if there are matters for clarification or the opportunity to negotiate conditions and thereby avoid a representation to the licensing subcommittee. You can negotiate directly with an applicant on conditions or negotiate through another licensing partner (particularly if they are also negotiating on conditions directly with the applicant). This can be an effective way of getting changes without defaulting to a licensing subcommittee hearing. However, before entering into any contact or negotiations with applicants we would strongly advise: test your approach with licensing partners, or seek their support in negotiating conditions; and, think clearly about what you want to achieve by negotiating directly with an applicant, in particular be clear about what outcome you would accept and be prepared to explain clearly to the applicant what you see as the result of any negotiation. Additionally we recommend that you negotiate early in the application period and be prepared to submit a representation to the licensing subcommittee if you do not achieve your aims in any negotiation. Public Health and Licensing Guidance Page 13

14 3. STEP FOUR DECISION MATRIX Step - riteria Step 3 - Engagement with partners Step 5 - Representajons: wriken and presented Step 2 - Scanning tool and data Step - ecision a ing In order to achieve consistency and robustness in decisions on whether to make a representation or not it is recommended that public health use some form of decision matrix or tree. This provides a robust process and also manages risks for the Local Authority in terms of decisions being appealed. A decision matrix, when used in conjunction with criteria and scanning tool allow a clear demonstration that each application is assessed in exactly the same way, therefore decisions are robust and challenging them from a procedural point is difficult. A decision matrix should cover criteria, data and partnership involvement. A copy of the decision matrix is outlined on the next page. Public Health and Licensing Guidance Page 14

15 DECISION MATRIX FLOWCHART Decision Criteria:Doestheapplication trigger the decision criteria? Green: No further action required - enter into log. Red: use data scanning tools to assess evidence base No: the data from the scanning tools does not indicate an issue Yes:thereissuitable robustdatafor evidence which shows issues Engagement with applicant: applicant agrees suitable conditions Apply dashboard and bullseye tools to build evidence and apply other sources of data. Including: Local data analysis Safe stats additional data Google maps and streetview Engagement with applicant: consider negotiating with applicant on voluntary conditions. Engagement: initiate engagement with licensing partners. Do you needtoinform them or consult them? Will engaging with the applicant be useful? Engagement with applicant: Applicant does not agree conditions Representation: make a representation to the licensing subcommittee. Consider if this representations is: an objection to the application; or, arequest for conditions to be applied to the license. Unsuccessful representation: consider whether to accept the decision or to appeal, you will have 28 days to lodge an appeal. Update log Successful representation 15 Public Health and Licensing Guidance Page 15

16 STEP FIVE REPRESENTATIONS: WRITTEN AND PRESENTED Step - riteria Step 3 - Engagement with partners Step - epresenta ons: ri en and presented Step 2 - Scanning tool and data Step 4 - Decision making Once a decision has been made on the action to take, a representation supporting letter is produced and if needed further information and data is collected/produced/asked for. A template for representations, and two sample anonymized representations have been included in the pack. It is important that you refer to the four licensing objectives and your local Statement of Licensing Policy, highlighting where they are directly relevant, when writing your representation. When a representation letter has been produced the following actions should take place: Representation from Public Health is then sent off to the relevant Licensing Team. Application is filed and a note of action taken along with the outcome of the representation. If you make a representation you will be contacted by the licensing team and given a time and date for the representation to be heard by the licensing subcommittee. You will need to be prepared for this and be prepared to speak to the subcommittee to outline your key points and respond to any queries they have. As stated earlier it is recommended that you attend a subcommittee hearing before your first representation to see how they operate. TIME SCALE Establishing a cycle for operating the process is important, as the period for response is 28 days therefore a weekly cycle is recommended. This includes: 1. Each week new applications are collated and assessed against the criteria by a member of staff (can be a junior member of the team), initial data scanning tools are applied and details recorded on spreadsheet; 2. A tasking meeting between team member and public health lead for licensing takes place to consider the details and make decisions about which applications to take forward action on and whether further data and evidence is needed; 3. Consultation with partners (licensing, trading standards, police) takes place via an or phone call outlining which applications public health is considering a representation to with the reasons why and any specific questions for partners; 4. If further data or evidence is needed the lead will either undertake the research or contact public health data analyst to collect further information; Public Health and Licensing Guidance Page 16

17 5. Final decision on application is made after considering partner representations and any further data and evidence sourced; 6. Letter of representation is drafted and forwarded to Director of Public Health for sign off; and, 7. Signed letter of representation is forwarded to the Local Authority Licensing Team. Once this has taken place a hearing will be scheduled and public health will be invited to attend the hearing and make a verbal representation. It is important that the public health representative attend these hearings and that they are fully briefed and prepared to support the written representation in person. There may also be an opportunity for public health to negotiate directly with an applicant where a representation is made on the basis of conditions this can be a very useful approach with the opportunity to have conditions placed on the licence without a hearing taking place. However, as stated in Step 3 we recommend any negotiation is well planned and takes place early in the 28 day cycle. Public Health and Licensing Guidance Page 17

18 PART 4: ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE CUMULATIVE IMPACT POLICIES Currently in London 22 of 33 local authorities have cumulative impact policies (CIPs) in place, and there are 55 separate CIPs. In two boroughs the CIPs do not cover the variation of hours. CIPs are a useful tool for managing a borough s licensing and night time economy, providing a more managed approach than the general licensing processes. CIP s also provide a good opportunity for public health to be active in the licensing process. The data and evidence available to public health fits well with the CIP approach providing an opportunity to apply contextual rather than premise specific data and evidence, and also providing a role where public health can support other licensing partners by ensuring all CIP applications are considered and responded to as appropriate. Public health can strengthen the CIPs and the policy intention behind them by ensuring a representation is made for any application in a CIP as appropriate. Clearly some applications will make a reasonable case for an exemption, but ensuring all CIP applications are considered strengthens the policy approach. It is important to recognise that CIPs are applied differently to licensing applications by different licensing subcommittees and therefore it is important to have determined how strongly you want to press representations on CIPs. BROADER ISSUES OF CUMULATIVE IMPACT The absence of a CIP does not prevent any responsible authority or other person making representations on an application for the grant or variation of a licence on the grounds that the premises will give rise to a negative cumulative impact on one or more of the licensing objectives. Again, where there are concerns about an application public health data and evidence lends itself to taking this approach. Furthermore, the issue of outlet density has been shown in the research literature to being a key issue in alcohol related harm. Public Health and Licensing Guidance Page 18

19 PROVIDING PUBLIC HEALTH EVIDENCE Public health s access to data and research around the health and wellbeing impacts of alcohol provides an opportunity to assist the other licensing partners with evidence statements that support their representations. For example a brief statement of the health impacts alcohol can have on children and young people can provide strong support to a trading standards review of a premise that has failed a test purchase operation. Experience to date has demonstrated that statements of this sort have been welcomed by licensing subcommittees and have been noted by them in their reasons for not granting a licence or applying conditions to a licence. UNUSUAL APPLICATIONS With the wide range of applications that will be received there will be applications where public health will have to consider a unique or unusual application and make a decision on both public health principles and the scope of public health s role and evidence as to whether to make a representation or not. Below are two types of unusual applications that may be received and some initial thinking on what to consider in response to them. Delivery services: alcohol delivery services and food services that deliver alcohol are expanding. These tend to fall into two categories: delayed delivery and immediate delivery. Delayed delivery tends to include all supermarket grocery delivery services that provide alcoholic beverages as part of their groceries offer for delivery. Generally these are delayed by at least a day and require an account of the customer and are unlikely to provide any issues beyond those posed by any other off licence. Immediate delivery services are more likely to pose an issue in terms of public health support for the licensing objectives, particularly if the licence being sought is for 24 hours or late night/early morning. In this case careful consideration of the risk of sales to underage purchasers needs to be made and conditions considered. Furthermore, if the delivery area includes a CIZ this should be considered such as a condition not to deliver within the CIZ. Residential premises: from time to time applications are made for individuals to sell alcohol offlicence from a residential premise. A number of factors need to be considered over-all, such as: the safety of the individual, nuisance to neighbours, under age sales and the possibility of the licence changing hands for a different use (eg. A restaurant with late hours changing hands and becoming a late night bar). In these cases, public health should work closely with partners to provide public health evidence to support conditions or objections that may be raised. The circumstances of these applications are likely to vary greatly and so generally require more detailed consideration. Public Health and Licensing Guidance Page 19

20 A P P E N D I X 1: THE LICENSING OBJECTIVES PREVENTION OF CRIME AND DISORDER Health bodies may hold information which other responsible authorities do not, but which would assist a licensing authority in exercising its functions. For example, drunkenness can lead to accidents and injuries from violence, resulting in attendances at emergency departments and the use of ambulance services. Some of these incidents will be reported to the police, but many will not. Such information would be relevant to the crime and disorder objective and in some cases the public safety objective. In making representations, Directors of Public Health will need to consider how to collect anonymised information about incidents that relate to specific premises or premises in a particular area (for example, a cumulative impact zone). Many areas have already developed procedures for local information sharing to tackle violence, which could provide useful evidence to support representations. The College of Emergency Medicine has issued guidelines for information sharing to reduce community violence which recommends that data about assault victims should be collected upon admission to emergency departments, including the date, time and location of the assault i.e. the name of the pub, club or street where the incident occurred. Sometimes, it may be possible to link ambulance callouts or attendances at emergency departments to irresponsible practices at specific premises, such as serving alcohol to people who are intoxicated or targeting promotions involving unlimited or unspecified quantities of alcohol at particular groups. This is an area in which Directors of Public Health have access to significant amounts of data and evidence that are not normally reported to police and provides the opportunity for making representations or for supporting licensing partners to make representations based on this additional data and evidence. It is important to remember that the World Health Organization has identified violence prevention as a public health responsibility ( _prevention/ violence/en/) and as such this provides another opportunity for Directors of Public Health to support other efforts to reduce and prevent violence within their local authority area. Public Health and Licensing Guidance Page 20

21 PUBLIC SAFETY Licence holders have a responsibility to ensure the safety of those using their premises, as a part of their duties under the 2003 Act. This concerns the safety of people using the relevant premises rather than public health which is addressed in other legislation. Physical safety includes the prevention of accidents and injuries and other immediate harms that can result from alcohol consumption such as unconsciousness or alcohol poisoning. Conditions relating to public safety may also promote the crime and disorder objective as noted above. Public safety is the objective in which there is the least alignment with the contribution that Directors of Public Health can make to licensing responsibilities. However, some opportunities to make representations on this objective may arise. PREVENTION OF PUBLIC NUISANCE Public nuisance is given a statutory meaning in many pieces of legislation. It is however not narrowly defined in the 2003 Act and retains its broad common law meaning. It is important to remember that the prevention of public nuisance could therefore include low-level nuisance, perhaps affecting a few people living locally, as well as major disturbance affecting the whole community. It may also include in appropriate circumstances the reduction of the living and working amenity and environment of other persons living and working in the area of the licensed premises. Public nuisance may also arise as a result of the adverse effects of artificial light, dust, odor and insects or where its effect is prejudicial to health. THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN FROM HARM This objective relates to the protection of children from moral, psychological and physical harm. This includes protecting them from early exposure to: strong language, sexual expletives, adult entertainment, drinking alcohol, drug-taking, gambling, violence. This is an important objective for Directors of Public Health due to the impact that alcohol consumption by young people can have on their health, and the impact that consumption of alcohol by parents and carers can have on the health and wellbeing of young people. In particular, the Director of Public Health can act where there are issues relating to existing or possible under age sales being made by a licensee. Public Health and Licensing Guidance Page 21

22 APPENDIX 2: THE STANDARD LICENSING PROCESS This section outlines the existing process for receiving, considering and making decisions on applications. These are the general steps that Directors of Public Health will need to comply with and be familiar with in order to implement a process for effective involvement. GENERAL When a licensing authority receives an application for a new premises licence or an application to vary an existing premises licence, it must determine whether the application has been made in accordance with section 17 of the 2003 Act, and in accordance with regulations made under sections 17(3) to (6), 34, 42, 54 and 55 of the 2003 Act. It must similarly determine applications for the grant of club premises certificates made in accordance with section 71 of the 2003 Act, and in accordance with regulations made under sections 71(4) to (7), 84, 91 and 92 of the 2003 Act. This means that the licensing authority must consider among other things whether the application has been properly advertised in accordance with those regulations. WHERE NO REPRESENTATION IS MADE A hearing is not required where an application has been properly made and no responsible authority or other person has made a relevant representation. In these cases, the licensing authority must grant the application in the terms sought, subject only to conditions which are consistent with the operating schedule and relevant mandatory conditions under the 2003 Act. This should be undertaken as a simple administrative process by the licensing authority s officials who should replicate the proposals contained in the operating schedule to promote the licensing objectives in the form of clear and enforceable licence conditions. WHERE REPRESENTATIONS ARE MADE Where a representation concerning the licensing objectives is made by a responsible authority about a proposed operating schedule and it is relevant, the licensing authority s discretion will be engaged. It will also be engaged if another person makes relevant representations to the licensing authority, which are also not frivolous or vexatious. Relevant representations can be made in opposition to, or in support of, an application and can be made by any individual, body or business that has grounds to do so. Public Health and Licensing Guidance Page 22

23 APPLICATIONS Not all applications will be for new applications or variations of licence; some will be for temporary event notices or change in the designated premise supervisor which the Director of Health does not have a role in commenting on. An application for a premises licence must be made to the relevant licensing authorities and must be accompanied by the following: an operating schedule; a plan of the premises to which the application relates, in the prescribed form; and, details on the individual whom the applicant wishes to have specified in the premises licence as the premises supervisor. If the application is sent in via paper form it is the Responsibility of the applicant to ensure that public health receives a copy of its application and the Council Licensing team may not send a copy to public health. Failure to send an application to all responsible authorities can result in the application being refused and the applicant will have to resubmit the application. However if the application is made on-line it becomes the responsibility of the Local Authority to send copies to all other Responsible Authorities. Once the council has received an application, a 28 day consultation period follows in which representation/ objections are put forward. At the end of this 28 day consultation the licensing team will review representations submitted and make decisions based on the information provided. Each application is considered on an individual basis, public health needs to make sure each representation is based on the premises (and the context in which it operates) and not a generic representation. Where representation has been made and small changes are asked for, the council will mediate options with the applicant. This will most likely mean the council licensing team speaking to the applicant to ask for the small changes to be made instead of taking it to a panel. If the applicant agrees the changes are made and application is granted. Applicants may seek to meet with public health to open dialogue to discuss the conditions they have asked for or look at other ways around them that benefits both parties. A copy of all applications can also be found on the council websites under current applications. APPLICATIONS THAT GO TO SUB-COMMITTEE Licensing sub-committees will generally meet every 1-2 weeks, and there may be approximately 3 applications to be heard. The sub-committee meeting is generally held over an evening session or if it is urgent, for example for an expedited review it will be held during the day. A representative of public health will need to attend to support a representation if one has been put forward and the representation goes to the subcommittee. It is important that the representative is able to present all the data and evidence clearly as failure to do this will reflect negatively on the representation and public health as the responsible authority. Public Health and Licensing Guidance Page 23

24 APPEALING THE SUB COMMITTEE DECISION If the applicant appeals the sub-committee s decision then it could go to magistrate court. The hearing can take between 4-6 months to go before a magistrate and on average the case can take between 1-2 days to hear. Public health will be asked to attend the hearing to present their evidence and will only have to attend for the time it takes to present their evidence. The magistrates court will look at the finer details of the evidence and public health needs to ensure they have robust data and evidence clearly linking back to the premises and the objectives. NB - Health is not responsible for the cost if the application goes before a magistrate. If it is appealed at court it would be the sub-committee s decision that would be looked at and public health will only be called up as a witness to provide their evidence and reasons for making the representation. LICENSING APPLICATION EXISTING VS. NEW APPLICATION When considering licensing applications there is a slight variation on the approach and data needed depending on whether the application is a variation to an existing licence or a new application, and whether it is an off or on licence. In both cases the overall impact to the community should still be highlighted. Data for on-licences is likely to focus more on the Night Time Economy including: anti-social behaviour, assaults, London Ambulance Service data, street drinking and any available Accident & Emergency data and any information around proximity to housing/high residential areas. Data which will be considered for an off-license application will depend on the time they are open, early morning is likely to focus on street drinking, day time anti-social behaviour, proximity to schools and alcohol treatment services. The focus for off-licences open late at night will be on anti-social behaviour, assaults, or proximity to Night Time Economy venues. Trading standards information on test purchases are a key data source for off-licences in relation to the protection of children. Health evidence on the impact of alcohol consumption by young people can effectively support representations and reviews made on the basis of test purchasing. The evidence to support a representation needs to: be relevant to hours; be relevant to area; link to objectives; be specific about conditions; have a specific reason for refusal; and, take into account the Statement of Licensing Policy where relevant. Public Health and Licensing Guidance Page 24

25 CONDITIONS Para 1.17 of the Secretary of State s Guidance states: Standardised conditions should be avoided and indeed may be unlawful where they cannot be shown to be appropriate for the promotion of the licensing objectives in an individual case. Many borough Police and Council licensing teams have a list of skeleton conditions that public health may view to help develop an understanding of the type of conditions that public health could propose in any representation. However all conditions that public health recommends need to be specific to the premise and be appropriate and proportionate. If conditions are required, it is important that any proposals are: Within the ability of the licencee to control; Relevant; Appropriate; STANDARD OPERATING SCHEDULE Fair; and, Enforceable. The Standard Operation schedule sets out the steps the applicant intends to take to promote the licensing objectives The requirements for the operating schedule are set out in the Act and are as follows: An operating schedule is a document which is in the prescribed form and includes a statement of the following matters (a) the relevant licensable activities, (b) the times during which it is proposed that the relevant licensable activities are to take place, (c) any other times during which it is proposed that the premises are to be open to the public, (d) where the applicant wishes the licence to have effect for a limited period, (e) where the relevant licensable activities include the supply of alcohol, prescribed information in respect of the individual whom the applicant wishes to have specified in the premises licence as the premises supervisor, (f) where the relevant licensable activities include the supply of alcohol, whether the supplies are proposed to be for consumption on the premises or off the premises, or both, (g) the steps which it is proposed to take to promote the licensing objectives, (h) such other matters as may be prescribed. The quality of the section of the operating schedule provided with the application which covers the applicant s proposed management controls against each of the licensing objectives, is crucial in providing an indication as to the level of consideration an applicant has given to their application and the potential for their premises operation to give rise to concerns under the licensing objectives. To thoroughly consider an application it is necessary to take a view as to whether the management proposals contained within the operating schedule are sufficient to ensure that the premises will be well run. Public Health and Licensing Guidance Page 25