Agenda and minutes

With reference to article 1 of the minute of the previous meeting, the Forum agreed that George Wyatt would become the new Convener and Craig Adams would be the new Vice Convener.

The Forum resolved:-

to agree that George Wyatt would become the new Convener of the Forum, with Craig Adams as the Vice Convener.

The Forum had before them, the minute of the previous meeting of 12 April 2012.

The Forum resolved:-

to agree the minute as a correct record.

The agenda for this meeting can be found at: 

http://committees.aberdeencity.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=151&MId=2460&Ver=4

With reference to article 4 of the minute of the previous meeting, the Forum had before them, the minute of the Licensing Board of 3 April, 2012, for information.

The Forum asked who the new members of the Licensing Board members were.  The clerk agreed to send a list of the new Board members out to the Forum, after the first meeting of the Licensing Board is held on 26 June.

The Forum resolved:-

(i)            to note that a list with the names of the new Board members would be circulated to Forum members in due course and;

(ii)          to otherwise note the minute.

With reference to article 5 of the minute of the previous meeting, the Forum had before them an updated workplan.

Sandy Kelman advised that an update could be added in relation to the city voice.

The Forum resolved:-

(i)            to note that Sandy Kelman would send an update on the current status of the city voice item, to the clerk; and

(ii)          to otherwise note the workplan.

The Group’s last meeting was on 10 April and has not met since the local government elections.  The Licensing Board will refresh the membership of the group at the first meeting of the Licensing Board on 26 June 2012.  Thereafter, the next meeting will take place once the police have obtained certain necessary information to allow us to progress.

With reference to article 6 of the minute of the previous meeting, the Forum had before them, a note from the clerk of the Working Group which provided an update on the current situation on the Working Group.

It was noted that the last meeting was held on 10 April 2012 and it had not met since the local government elections.  The Licensing Board were due to refresh the membership of the group at the first meeting of the Licensing Board on 26 June 2012.

Mike Saint queried what the remit of the group was and asked that some information be provided, as he was new to the Forum.

The Forum resolved:-

(i)            to request that the clerk gather some information on the remit of the Working Group, and email it on the members of the Forum; and

(ii)          to otherwise note the information provided.

With reference to article 11 of the minute of the previous meeting, the Forum discussed the possible topics for discussion at the joint meeting with the Licensing Board.

The Forum touched on various aspects that they would like to discuss with the Board and agreed that members of the Forum would meet informally to decide on the topics for the agenda.

The Forum resolved:-

to agree that the Convener meet with representatives from Health, Police, Alcohol & Drug Partnership and Licensing Standards on an informal basis to agree on the topics to be covered at the joint meeting with the Licensing Board, and to advise the clerk to the Forum in due course of the agenda items.

The Forum heard from Sergeant Robert McRobb, Grampian Police in relation to Licensing Objective 1, Preventing Crime and Disorder.

Sergeant McRobb advised that no serious assaults had been recorded during April and May 2012 in City Centre licensed premises and there had been less common assaults within licensed premises aswell.

Craig Adams queried about the statistics for assaults within the city centre streets.  Sergeant McRobb explained that he did not have the statistics with him but could provide these at a later date.

With reference to article 12 of the minute of the previous meeting, Sergeant McRobb explained that on 31 May, the “Is It Worth it Campaign” was launched and was very well received, with around 80 people attending the launch event.  The campaign had been funded by the Alcohol and Drug Partnership and the DVD was being used by secondary schools and local universities.

The Forum resolved:-

(i)            to request that the police provide statistics on the amount of assaults recorded within city centre streets, to a future meeting; and

(ii)          to otherwise note the information provided.

The Forum heard from Diane Sande, Licensing Standards Officer in relation to Licensing Objective 2, Securing Public Safety.

Diane advised that over the last three weeks, the Licensing team had been concentrating on the forthcoming Licensing Board meeting and the applications, and noted that since April, four compliance notices had been issued. 

Diane further explained that 50 visits to various premises had taken place since the last meeting, and that the team continued to liaise with the police and also the noise pollution team.

Diane concluded that a Licensing Conference had been held on 18 May 2012, and advised that should anyone require a copy of the notes to contact her directly.

George Wyatt highlighted that a lot of premises were using Facebook to advertise drink promotions, and then running out of the drink on offer within a short period of time. 

The Forum resolved:-

(i)            to request that any evidence on false advertising be reported to Diane Sande directly; and

(ii)          to otherwise note the information provided.

The Forum noted that no member was present from UNIGHT and therefore no update was available.

The Forum resolved:-

to request that the clerk contact UNIGHT and highlight the importance of attending the Forum meetings.

The Forum heard from Linda Smith, NHS Grampian in relation to Licensing Objective 4, Protecting and Improving Public Health.

Linda explained that NHS Grampian had been a statutory consultee since October 2011 in relation to new applications for Licenses.  Linda advised that it was difficult for them to pass comment on applications as it is difficult to determine the influence of a single premise on public health.

In relation to the premises who continue to serve people under the influence, Mike Saint suggested that information be sought from the street pastors to establish which premises drunk people were coming from and if there were repeat offenders.

Sandy Kelman also provided an update and explained that the Alcohol and Drug Partnership had their strategy published in 2009 and were looking to refresh it.  He advised that it was nearly complete, with a few things to be finalised.  Sandy highlighted that he hoped to hold a launch event for the strategy and was keen to get the Convener of the Licensing Board to assist.

Sandy further explained that the City Voice questionnaire went out on 20 June and the results would come to a future meeting of the Forum.  He also advised that with regards to people getting treatment in the city, the ADP had been meeting their current target for getting people the required treatment.

Finally, Sandy highlighted that the Best Bar None scheme was an ongoing scheme and one that needed to be promoted.

The Forum resolved:-

to note the information provided.

The Forum noted that no representative was present from Children’s Services at Aberdeen City Council.  The Forum noted that it was very important that a representative attend future meetings.

The clerk explained that she had contacted the service to establish who the representative would be, but had heard noting back to date.

The Forum resolved:-

to request that the clerk contact the Head of Children’s Services again to determine who the representative would be on the Forum.

The Convener declared the meeting open for any other competent business, whereby he explained that with an Occasional Alcohol License, the person serving the alcohol does not need to be trained to serve alcohol, however as this was a legislative issue it would be difficult to make any immediate changes however it was agreed that this possibly could be addressed by asking that the License holder trains any staff involved as there was evidence that these types of License were being abused.

The Forum noted that the date of the next meeting was Thursday 6 September at 2pm, and the Joint Meeting with the Licensing Board was due to be held on Thursday 16 August at 1pm.

 - George Wyatt, Convener