Agenda item

Mick Sims, Licensing Manager, introduced a report advising Members on the review of and consultation on the revised standard terms and conditions for Street trading Consents.

Members were informed that the last review of Street Trading Consents was conducted in 2011. As the existing conditions had been deemed outdated, a new review had been required. A new set of terms had been prepared, and a formal consultation on the final terms had been conducted between 30^th November 2015 and 4^th January 2016. No responses had been received.

Following the consultation, Condition 2.1 had been deemed to be too arbitrary, and it was requested that this condition be amended to ensure the safety of the public and to prevent any obstruction of highways or footpaths. If approved, the new wording would be published as part of the guidance to street traders, via the Slough website.

Members asked a number of questions, including:

Who would enforce the 50m cordon between street traders and schools /nurseries, set out in Condition 2.1?

Licensing Officers would enforce the 50m restriction, via spot checks. In addition, officers would respond to concerns raised by members of the public or from the schools themselves. The Licensing Authority had the power to revoke a licence should the trader not be complying with the terms of his/her licence.

Who carried out the checks to ensure traders were complying with the terms of their licenses?

Officers would review an applicant’s recent criminal record via a DBS check, mandatory when applying for a licence. Once a licence had been granted, licence holders were under a legal obligation to inform the Licensing Authority of any convictions. To not do so would constitute a breach of their licence conditions, and could result in their licence being revoked.

How would existing licence holders be notified of the proposed changes?

License holders were written to as part of the consultation process, and would also receive notification of the updated terms in writing.

Resolved-

(a)  That the new revised standard terms and conditions for Street Trading Consents be approved.

(b)  That the amended wording for condition 2.1 as set out in the report be approved.

(c)  That Council be recommended to approve the Revised Standard Terms and Conditions as set out in the report.