RESOLVED: That Councillor Pamela Fleming is elected Chair of the Committee for the Municipal year 2017/18.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Ross Garrod.

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 30 January 2017 are agreed as an accurate record.

The Committee discussed the report in depth and highlighted any areas of concern, noting that the details of the report were still under discussion.

The Committee agreed that more work and discussions would be required and that this was a good opportunity to review and reassess the work of the Partnership so far.

The Committee thanked all the officers for their hard work.

RESOLVED: That Members noted the progress on the negotiations between the Regulatory Services Partnership and Wandsworth Borough Council.

RESOLVED: That Members considered the proposed changes to the existing Regulatory Services Partnership service delivery and governance arrangements requested by Wandsworth Borough Council.

The Chair advised the Committee as the item began that she was very impressed with the work that was detailed in the report.

The Head of the Regulatory Services Partnership gave an overview of the report highlighting key areas for discussion and noting that he was very pleased with the performance of the service who were undertaking a very diverse range of work including some good enforcement work, of which some examples were given within the report.

Councillor Rita Palmer and Councillor Nick Draper congratulated the service on the successes thus far in the cases for Urban Diner and Iceland Foods in particular. 

The Committee paused at 11am to observe a minutes silence as part of the national silence following events in London Bridge and Borough Market during the previous weekend.

The Head of the Regulatory Services Partnership advised the Committee that many of the streams of work were being undertaken with assistance and collaboration with other departments as well as external organisations including  the Metropolitan Police.

In regards to Licensing, the Head of the Regulatory Services Partnership outlined examples given in the report of recent activity, explaining that there was a large volume of work being undertaken in both dealing with new applications and monitoring  current licensed premises. Councillor Rita Palmer advised that she was very impressed with the way in which Police and Licensing Authorities were working closely with applicants before applications were submitted.

The Head of the Regulatory Services Partnership advised that in relation to Street Trading, there was currently work in progress to review the standard conditions and to create a new Street Trading Policy.

The Head of the Regulatory Services Partnership noted that there had been a large increase in the number of complaints regarding noise from construction sites and that authorities were looking at ways to assist residents with this. Councillor Nick Draper stressed the importance of cross-borough joint working and the Committee agreed that discussions would also need to take place with Planning departments regarding this.

Councillor Pamela Fleming stated that there was exceptional work being

undertaken and to ensure that it was publicised and to show the benefits of joint working.

RESOLVED: That members noted and commented on the review of the annual performance of the Regulatory Services Partnership.

The forward plan was reviewed, and the Chair requested that any members who had suggestions for additions to the plan circulated those to the Committee.

The Committee agreed that the “Update on negotiations between the RSP and the London Borough of Wandsworth” would be added as a standing item on the agenda.

RESOLVED: That members noted and commented on the Forward Plan

Councillor Rita Palmer requested an update on the rating system for food premises, noting that displaying the rating was mandatory in Wales and Scotland but currently not in England. The Head of the Regulatory Services Partnership advised that a letter had been sent previously regarding this however no response had yet been received.

Councillor Nick Draper stated how grateful he was to officers for all their hard work, and this was agreed by the Committee.

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