There were no declarations of pecuniary interest

Councillor John Sargeant

In agreeing the minutes as a correct record, the committee noted the informative presented by the Licencing Officer that the licensing team will  soon be part of the Joint Shared Regulatory Service which is currently being rolled out across Merton and Richmond. Once this is in place, which is anticipated in next few months, it will allow Licensing and Public Health across the two boroughs to look and develop larger initiatives/ projects in reducing harms from alcohol.  As a result, it is anticipated a full report will be brought to the next Licensing Committee.

The chair explained the absence of any officer from Safer Merton being available to speak to the report.

The chair asked the committee to consider whether the information provided in the report was sufficient to arrive at a decision regarding the CDZ.

Panel members raised the following points during discussion:

·         How the data was collected (a member queried the peak point on Thursdays, and whether this was because stops were being made when the police have a high presence)

·         Whether there was a lack of enforcement in some areas, ie Mitcham

·         Whether there was a lack of uniformity in approach to data collection

·         Whether there was historical data to provide a bench mark for further analysis.

It was agreed that a police presence at the meeting would have been helpful.

Resolved :

That the CDZ. should remain in place, pending a more comprehensive report to be presented to the committee in one year’s time and that the Chair would liaise with the Borough Commander to discuss points raised by the committee in discussing the report, relating to data collection (uniformity of process across the borough), the availability of comparative data, enforcement and reporting mechanisms.