In August 2004 I asked my (new) ward councillor to write to the legal officer on my behalf asking for "straightforward answers" to be provided. On the 5 November 2004 I was finally provided by the councillor, with the reply - dated 6 September 2004!!!

[Not that the following was really worth waiting for.]

Thank you for your letter of 29 August regarding questions forwarded to you by your constituent Mr Gall.

In response to e-mails from Mr Gall in July and August I explained that the Council's priority was the sucessful implementation of the new licensing regime ans available resources need to be focused on this work. Consequently Council officers did not have the capacity   
to respond further to the points raised. Mr Gall was also invited to particpate in the consultation process in preparation for formulation of the Council's Local Licensing Policy and model conditions.

The only outstanding issues from the Licensing meeting which took place in February were:

A reply to the Locum Head of Legal Services' letter to the department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS)
and
Information regarding possible unlicensed enertainment taking place in premises in the Borough

The answer to these points are:

The DCMS finally replied to the Council's letter by e-mail on 2 September and Mr Gall also received a copy of that advice.
and
The information regarding possible unlicensed entertainment has been noted by the Public Enforcement Officer.

I hope this is of assistance to Mr Gall.

Melaine Earnshaw
Legal and Housing Services Manager