This in reply - from my friend Mr Locke. Who, at the time of writing this, did not seem to be aware of the specific undertakings I had been given by his own officers, prior to the meeting.

Mr Gall,

The Mayor has asked me to reply to your email of 24 November regarding the Licensing Committee's consideration of your representations. I have discussed your comments with the Chair of the Committee, Councillor Mike Goodman and the Officers dealing with the matter at the Committee. I would make the following points:


·       Your comments were all scrutinised by all the Committee for over a week. If any Member wanted any further discussion or clarification they asked for it at the meeting.


·       There is no prescribed format for consideration of consultation feedback and I suggest that the Licensing Manager's report was extremely detailed. Dealing with the volume of comments from 21 respondents was a challenging task.

            
·       As you pointed out yours' were not the only comments without a written appraisal. That appraisal was not a condition of the Members discussing or asking questions about a particular representation.


·       In fact there was more discussion at the meeting on comments made by you than for most if not all other consultees. A significant number of your suggestions were discussed and adopted.


·         The issues of live music, small scale entertainment, incidental music and exemptions were all discussed at the meeting.


·       The tone of the meeting was relatively informal and encouraged questions from Members and questions were frequently asked of the Legal and Licensing Officers during the course of the meeting.


I am satisfied that all representations were properly reported to the Committee and that they had a full opportunity to consider them. The fact that Members did not wish to discuss all the representations in detail is not surprising and does not detract from the validity of the exercise. The Committee will now move on to the next stage of implementing the legislative provisions.

Ian Locke

Director – Community Services