Statement of Licensing Policy (2008) WCC - Westminster City Council

Appendix 1. Consultation1. Consultation was carried out with key stakeholders and interested parties on this policyfor a formal period of four weeks, from 20 August to 21 September 2007, satisfying therequirements of the Licensing Act 2003. In fact representations received up to 16 Octoberwere refl ected in the consideration of the revisions to the Statement of Licensing Policy andrepresentations received up to 24 October were placed before the Licensing Committee andthe council meetings of 7 November. Proper weight has been given to the views of thesebodies.2. It did not prove possible to follow the Code of Practice on Consultation issued by the CabinetOffi ce in January 2004. The consultation timetable was determined by the Secretary of State’sissuing of revised Guidance on 28 June 2007 and the requirement for the council to approvethe publication of the Revised Statement of Licensing Policy prior to 8 January. The lastcouncil meeting of 2007 was set for 7 November. Regrettably, the period of public consultationcould not therefore be the full 12 weeks as in the Cabinet Offi ce’s code of practice.3. Consultation was on the basis of a review document outlining issues and proposed directionsof change. Those consulted included the following:• the Chief Offi cer of Police for the area• the Fire Authority for the area• other relevant and interested bodies/authorities• persons/bodies representative of local holders of premises licences• persons/bodies representative of local holders of club premises certifi cates• persons/bodies representative of businesses in its area• persons/bodies representative of residents in its area.4. 44 responses to the Review document were received:6 from associations of licensees7 from individual operators1 from a fi rm of solicitors17 from residents’ associations5 from individual residents3 from councillors2 from responsible authorities3 from other organisations96