The Licensing Committee met on 18 September 2025 to review and discuss the proposed Statement of Licensing Policy 2025-2030, considering feedback from public consultations and making recommendations for amendments before its final adoption by the Full Council. The committee also reviewed the forward plan for upcoming meetings.

Here's a breakdown of the key topics discussed:

Statement of Licensing Policy Review

The Licensing Act 2003 requires the council to create and publish a Statement of Licensing Policy every five years. The current policy is valid until November 2025. The committee considered the responses from two public consultations to decide what amendments should be made to the draft policy.

The report before the committee recommended that they:

consider consultation responses and feedback, if necessary, amend the draft document and recommend a final version of the Statement of Licensing Policy for adoption by Full Council.

The draft Statement of Licensing Policy covered a range of topics, including:

• Fundamental licensing objectives, such as the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, prevention of public nuisance, and the protection of children from harm.
• Licensable activities like the sale of alcohol, provision of regulated entertainment, and late-night refreshment.
• Specific considerations for different types of premises and events.
• Enforcement and review processes.
• Cumulative impact of licensed premises.

The council consulted with Dorset Police, Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, the BCP Director of Public Health, local premises and club licence holders, local personal licence holders, and representatives of businesses and residents.

The responses to the consultations and officer recommendations for policy amendments were detailed in Appendix 4 of the report.

Key points raised in the consultation responses included:

• Excessive alcohol consumption and dispersal policies: Dorset Police supported the proposal to address excessive alcohol consumption but suggested extending the responsibility of applicants to include consideration of the impact that poor dispersal practices can have on communities. They recommended discouraging alcohol from being taken from 'on-sales' premises, especially after closing time.
• Violence against women and girls: Dorset Police recommended that new applicants acknowledge and take reasonable steps to mitigate the risk of violence against women and girls in their licensed premises, including specific staff training and procedures.
• Drink spiking: Dorset Police highlighted the threat of drink spiking and recommended that new applicants consider measures to prevent and detect weapons inside their premises.
• Late-night refreshment: Dorset Police expressed concern about the increasing levels of crime and disorder associated with premises offering late-night refreshment and suggested that new applicants should introduce appropriate steps to mitigate against these issues.
• Child sexual exploitation: Dorset Police recommended acknowledging the threat that 'county lines' drug networks have on communities and increasing awareness of this threat within licensed communities.
• Proxy sales: Dorset Police suggested that applicants consider measures to minimise the risk of proxy sales, such as considering the premises layout and training staff to challenge this activity.
• Unsuitable persons operating licensed premises: Dorset Police invited the Licensing Authority to consider the adoption of a measure to protect against an emerging trend of unsuitable persons operating, controlling, or benefiting from a licensed premises through the use of a substitute operator.
• Bournemouth Street Pastors: Bournemouth Town Pastors requested an amendment to the statement about their organisation to accurately reflect their activities and equipment.
• Late Night Levy: An individual stated that the late night levy should not be introduced.
• Licence Conditions: An individual suggested various licence conditions, including requiring alcohol to be behind the counter, forbidding nudity, setting a maximum capacity and minimum ratio of door staff to customers, providing a litter bin, checking security staff SIA passes, and providing staff with spiking kits.
• Fire Safety: Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service recommended including a requirement for applicants to ensure a suitable and sufficient Fire Risk Assessment is carried out and recorded.
• Bournemouth & District Law Society: The Bournemouth & District Law Society raised concerns about the document format, the consultation period, contradictory paragraphs, a negative impact on businesses, and the level of detail required.

The committee was asked to consider each of the responses received and decide whether to accept the comment and amend the policy accordingly, or disregard and exclude the comments from the policy. They were also asked to provide reasons for any amendments made and agree on a final version of the Statement of Licensing Policy to be recommended to Full Council.

Forward Plan

The committee also considered and approved the forward plan for future meetings, which included:

• Review of Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Driver, Vehicle and Operator Policies (22 October 2025)
• Pleasure Boats and Boatpersons Licensing Policy (11 December 2025)
• Review of Statement of Licensing Principles - Gambling Act 2005 (date to be determined)
• Council responsibilities to Taxi Drivers (briefing note circulated to the committee on 6 August 2025)

The forward plan also included details of committee briefings and training sessions.