Agenda item

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 17th August, it had considered four applications for Temporary Street Trading Licences to trade on the Boucher Road, during the Tennents Vital event. It was reminded further that the Police Service of Northern Ireland had lodged objections to those applications and that it had been invited to send a representative to that meeting in order to clarify any issues which might be raised. However, no one had attended and, accordingly, the Committee had agreed that a senior representative be invited to a future meeting to discuss issues around representations made by the Police Service in relation to licensing applications.

            It was reported that Inspector D. Hardy and Constable S. O’Hare were in attendance and they were welcomed by the Chairperson.

            Constable O’Hare informed the Members that he had submitted the objections to the four applications for Temporary Street Trading Licences on the Boucher Road. He explained that the Tennents Vital festival had attracted an attendance of between 40,000 and 45,000 patrons and that, in his view, the presence of stalls along parts of the Boucher Road whilst patrons were exiting the venue would have had the potential to create significant problems for the Police Service, particularly in terms of crowd safety and given the limited number of officers who been allocated to that area. 

            Inspector Hardy apologised for the fact that the Police Service had not been represented at the meeting on 17th August, which he indicated had been due to resources across the City being stretched at that time. He accepted that the Council should have been notified in advance of that meeting that no one would be attending and confirmed that, in future, every effort would be made to ensure that, where the Police Service had lodged an objection to an application, a representative would be available and that they had been fully briefed beforehand.

            In response to a question from a Member, Constable O’Hare stated that he had assumed the role of licensing officer for Belfast in May, 2016 and that he had attended three meetings of the Licensing Committee since then.

            In terms of concerns which had been expressed by a Member around the level of resources which the Police Service had allocated to the Tennents Vital festival, Inspector Hardy confirmed that it was normal practice for a risk assessment to be undertaken in advance of such an event and that factors, such as the likely number and the profile of patrons, would be taken into account in determining the level of resources to be allocated. He added that, whilst he had no information to hand on, for example, the number of officers who had been on duty or on the number of arrests, it was his understanding that the festival had been a success and that no major issues had been identified.

            The Building Control Manager explained that the Building Control Service worked closely with the Police Service of Northern Ireland and other key agencies in planning for major events such as the Tennents Vital festival and confirmed that it had had no concerns around the level of resources which had been allocated by the Police Service to that event.

            The Chairperson then afforded the Members the opportunity to raise with the representatives any other issues of concern.

            A Member referred to the fact that councils would soon be responsible for administering and implementing that part of the Roads (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (Northern Ireland) 2010 relating to the holding of events on public roads. It was pointed out that the Council had concerns around the logistics and the potential liabilities and costs associated with the legislation and an assurance was sought that the changes would not affect the role of the Police Service of Northern Ireland when dealing with special events in the future.   

            In response, Inspector Hardy confirmed that the Police Service was aware of the role to be played by councils under the aforementioned Act and of the concerns which had been raised by them in that regard. He confirmed that the Police Service would maintain its current role whilst the legislation was being progressed and that it was keen to work with councils to develop the processes, procedures and guidance required thereafter to deliver events safely across the City. He pointed out that, whilst the Police Service did not charge currently for policing special events, it was his understanding that, under the Act, such costs would be borne by organisers and that events involving, for example, community organisations would be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

            A further Member alluded to the recent rise in drugs related deaths in Belfast and across Northern Ireland generally and sought from the representatives information on any measures being taken across the City by the Police Service to address the issue.

            Constable O’Hare assured the Members that the Police Service played a proactive role in addressing the issue of illegal drugs through, for example, the Get Home Safe campaign, which operated from Thursday night till Sunday night. He explained that he was examining the possibility of organising in the near future a seminar for licensees in order to raise their awareness of drugs issues and that an invitation would be extended to Council officers. Reference would be made at that event to an issue which had been raised by a Member around the benefits of drugs testing and drugs amnesties in nightclubs, which had been shown to be successful elsewhere.   

            Inspector Hardy reported that the Police Service did not have the resources available to monitor all licensed premises across the City on a sustained basis and that venues were targeted primarily on the basis of information which it received from various sources.  He made the point that there were legal difficulties associated with providing the Committee with detailed information on premises which had been linked to drugs, as had been suggested by a Member, but confirmed thatthe Police Service had no difficulty in working with the Council, through the Licensed Premises Group, to explore other ways in which problematic premises could be addressed under the Entertainments Licensing legislation. 

            Finally, a Member pointed out that she was aware of entertainments licensing applications having been considered by the Committee, where there had been allegations of serious assaults by door supervisors, some of which had not been objected to by the Police Service.

            In response, Constable O’Hare confirmed that, since a new regime had been introduced, which provided for dedicated officers to conduct regular checks of licensed premises, incidents involving door supervisors had fallen by two thirds. He pointed out that, whilst he would not necessarily be made aware of all investigations being undertaken by other officers around the conduct of door supervisors, he would, on most occasions, review a premises’ file, consult with a licensee and submit comments to the Council.      

            The Chairperson thanked Inspector Hardy and Constable O’Hare for their contribution and they left the meeting.

            The Committee noted the information which had been provided.