The Licensing Committee of Brent Council was scheduled to meet on Tuesday 9 June 2026 to discuss the appointments to its sub-committees. The meeting's agenda was to focus on determining the representation of political groups on the Regulatory Sub-Committee and making appointments to both the Regulatory Sub-Committee and the Alcohol & Entertainment Licensing Sub-Committee.

Licensing Sub-Committee Appointments and Decision-Making Arrangements

A key item scheduled for discussion was the report from the Corporate Director Finance & Resources concerning the appointments to the Licensing Sub-Committees. This report was to outline the committee's duty to review and determine the representation of political groups on its Regulatory Sub-Committee, ensuring appointments were made in accordance with the wishes of the political groups concerned. The report was also to cover appointments to the Alcohol & Entertainment Licensing Sub-Committee.

The report was expected to detail that the allocation of seats on the Regulatory Sub-Committee would be based on political balance rules, as prescribed by the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 and supplemented by the Local Government (Committees and Political Groups) Regulations 1990. These principles aim to ensure that the political composition of sub-committees broadly reflects the political composition of the full council. Based on the council's membership following the May 2026 elections, the report was to indicate an allocation of two seats for the Labour Group, one for the Conservative Group, one for the Liberal Democrats, and one for the Green Group on the Regulatory Sub-Committee.

The report was also to explain that the Alcohol and Entertainment Licensing Sub-Committee, which handles functions under the Licensing Act 2003 and the Gambling Act 2005, does not have a legal requirement for political balance due to the frequent and sometimes urgent nature of licensing hearings. This sub-committee is comprised of the Chair and Vice-Chair of the main Licensing Committee, along with one other member, with the remaining seven members of the main committee appointed as substitutes.

The committee was to be asked to agree to these recommendations for seat allocation and to appoint members and substitutes to each sub-committee, giving effect to the wishes of the allocated political groups. The report was also to note that the Council has a statutory duty under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, known as the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between those with and without protected characteristics. However, it was to state there were no direct equalities implications arising from the report at that stage.

Appointment to Sub-Committees

Following the discussion on the report, the committee was scheduled to consider the specific appointments to the sub-committees for the 2026-2027 municipal year. The agenda indicated that the proposed appointments, which had been previously circulated for reference at the Annual Council Meeting on 20 May 2026, would be presented for noting. The report pack was to include a list of these proposed appointments, detailing the members and their respective political groups for both the Alcohol & Entertainment Licensing Sub-Committee and the Regulatory Sub-Committee.

For the Alcohol & Entertainment Licensing Sub-Committee, the proposed appointments were to include Councillor Ahmed (Chair) and Councillor Aden (Vice Chair), both from the Labour group, and Councillor Mahmood, also from the Labour group. Substitute members were to be drawn from the remaining pool of Licensing Committee members.

For the Regulatory Sub-Committee, the proposed appointments were to include Councillor Ahmed (Chair) and Councillor Aden (Vice Chair), both Labour, Councillor Chowdhury (Conservative), Councillor Clinton (Liberal Democrats), and Councillor Gallagher (Green).