The Licensing Committee of Haringey Council met on Thursday, 4 January 2024, to discuss a range of licensing matters. Key decisions included the approval of revised fees and charges for licences for the 2024-25 financial year, and a discussion on improving the notification process for licensing applications to better engage local residents.

Improving Notification of Licensing Applications

Mr Francis Wilkinson, Secretary of the Highgate Society and a member of the Highgate Forum, presented a deputation highlighting concerns that local residents often discover licensing applications too late to make representations. He argued that current notification methods—A4 notices on premises, local newspaper advertisements, and website listings—are ineffective. Mr Wilkinson proposed two alternatives: either notifying residents of licensing applications in a similar manner to planning applications, or allowing residents and businesses to sign up for ward-specific licensing alerts, a system successfully implemented by the London Borough of Camden.

Ms Daliah Barrett, Licensing Team Leader, explained that national legislation dictates the use of premises notices and local newspaper advertisements. While the Licensing department has previously attempted direct mailings to residents within a certain radius, this proved resource-intensive and not always effective. She confirmed that a project group is exploring new IT platforms that could facilitate automatic notifications, and a link to such a system is already available via email to the Licensing inbox and has been shared with the Citizens Panel and the Ladder Safety Community Partnership. Councillors acknowledged the need for better notification but also stressed the importance of proportionality and avoiding overburdening the Licensing team, suggesting an electronic alert system would be preferable.

Review of Fees and Charges 2024-25

The committee reviewed the proposed fees and charges for licences for the 2024-25 financial year. Ms Daliah Barrett presented the report, which recommended an inflationary increase of 7% on existing discretionary fees and the introduction of a new fee for market operator licence applications. The aim is to ensure full cost recovery for the council in administering these licensing regimes.

The report noted that statutory fees for Licensing Act and Gambling Act premises are already set at the maximums allowed by law. Pavement licence fees will be addressed in a separate report due to ongoing legislative changes. A new fee of £175.00 is proposed for market operators to cover the administrative costs associated with assessing the suitability of locations for temporary markets. This aligns with the council's commitment to supporting markets and its market strategy.

The committee resolved to approve the proposed fees, including the 7% increase on discretionary fees and the new market operator licence application fee. They also noted that statutory fees would remain unchanged as they are already at the maximum.

Minutes of Previous Meetings

The committee confirmed and signed the minutes of the Licensing Committee meeting held on 22 June 2023. They also noted the decisions made by the Licensing Sub-Committee and Special Licensing Sub-Committee from January 2023.

Declarations of Interest

Councillor Nick da Costa declared an interest as a trustee of Alexandra Palace and Park Charitable Trust and a Director of Alexandra Palace Trading Limited, as these entities were mentioned in the report.