section: Your Council

Licensing

Some of the commercial activities which are most likely to cause a neighbourhood nuisance – like the supply of alcohol, for example – are licensed by the council. Communities can influence local licensing policy…

Some of the commercial activities which are most likely to cause a neighbourhood nuisance - like the supply of alcohol, for example - are licensed by the council. Communities can influence local licensing policy...

In more detail

A license is a permit which is issued by an authority to own or use something, do a particular thing, or carry on a particular trade etc.  The following activities are regulated by your local council in line with policies which they publish and consult on (within the framework set by Parliament).  Which means, if these activities are a problem in your neighbourhood, then you may be able to use your council’s licensing system (rather than the planning system) to address them:

  • Licensed Premises and Clubs - which serve hot food and/or alcohol and may provide entertainment like dancing and live music (see below)
  • Sex Clubs - which include lap and pole dancing venues, strip shows, peep shows and live sex shows.  Venues providing these forms of entertainment (unless infrequently) can be required to be licenced as sexual entertainment venues.  A council Sexual Entertainment Venue policy spells out the terms and details of how this is achieved in the same way as the council’s Licensing Policy applies to other licensed premises.
  • Sex Shops and Cinemas - have to be licensed under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982.
  • Gambling Premises – the Gambling Act 2005 requires premises including gaming centres, betting shops, casinos and bingo halls to have a Gaming Premises Licence issued by the council.  Other venues with gaming machines etc may need a gaming permit.
  • Scrap metal dealers
  • Skin piercers – includes tattoo parlours, acupuncturists and electrolytic hair removal as well as cosmetic ear and body piercers.
  • Taxis and private hire vehicles.

Licensed Premises

Licensed Premises – anywhere which is used  for the retail sale of alcohol; supply of alcohol to club members; to provide a  ‘regulated entertainment’ (which includes plays, films, indoor sporting events, boxing or wrestling, dance performances, performance of live music and playing recorded music); or to provide of public late night refreshment (hot food or drink for consumption on or off premises between 11pm and 5am, including mobile vans etc) requires a Premises Licence (or a Temporary Events Notice or a Personal Licence).  Operating conditions can specify a limited duration for the licence.  If the conditions do not set a time limit, then the licence is valid indefinitely, on payment of an annual fee, until it is revoked, lapsed or surrendered.

Members’ Clubs have an equivalent type of licence – the Club Premises Certificate – which allows these activities on club premises.

Licensing Committee

A committee of councillors, called the Licensing Committee (or something similar) amkes decisions about granting licences.  It is a non-Executive committee of the council which works in a similar way to the council's planning committee.  The decisions it makes are based on law, local policy and on the basic requirement of the council to look after local economic, social and environmental wellbeing (rather than on the basis of politics).

Statement on Licensing Policy

The Licensing Act 2003 requires Licensing Authorities (which are local councils) to issue an Statement of Licensing Policy.  The law also says that councils must consult publicly on this policy and review it regularly, for example every 3 years.  The Statement of Licensing Policy must further the objectives of licensing which are: to prevent crime and disorder; public safety; to prevent public nuisance; and to protect children from harm.  As well as explaining how the council will further these objectives through its licensing role, the policy  can set out:

  • how the council relates its licensing and planning functions
  • the processes for granting licenses and for enforcement action
  • the ways in which residents can make representations and petition in relation to licensing matters
  • the arrangements for reviewing licenses
  • licensing of open spaces
  • policy on issuing temporary licenses and personal licenses.
  • Temporary licenses and personal licenses are alternatives to premises licenses.

Designated Public Place Orders

In addition to the licensed activities above (and others which may be licensed in some areas), the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 gives councils powers to issues Designated Public Place orders.  These are used to create alcohol restricted areas – which may also be called alcohol restricted areas, controlled drinking zones etc.  It is an offence to drink alcohol in one of these areas after having been requested not to do so by a police officer.

Key Facts:

Activities which require a licence from the council include running hot food establishements, retail sale of alcohol, live music, sex clubs and sex shops, gambling premises, scrap metal yards, tatoo and skin piercing parlours and taxis and minicabs.  As well as making decisions on whether to license these activities on a site by site basis, the council must consult on its licensing policy.

Page Links from here

In this toolkit, see:

Public Health

Your Local Council


OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.

BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY PLANNING TOOLKIT DEFINITION SHEET This sheet may be reproduced in paper or electromic or any other form but please mention it was made by Chamberlain Forum Limited for Birmingham City Council supported by Department for Communities and Local Government.

created: 2016-06-02 10:37:28 by: admin status: f published

Empty Homes

Houses and flats that could be providing homes for people instead left empty, can attract squatters and antisocial behaviour…

Houses and flats that could be providing homes for people instead left empty, can attract squatters and antisocial behaviour...

In more detail

There are more than 200,000 homes that have been empty for more than 6 months in England and although that figure has been declining, it still represents a massive underused asset.

Local Council Action

If you supply the following details to your local council, they should take action to investigate an empty property:

  • Full address of the property
  • Type of property, for example, bungalow, flat, semi-detached house
  • A description of the external condition of the property
  • Length of time it’s been empty
  • Any additional information about the property, for example about the owner or any known occurrences of nuisance
  • Your contact details.

There are limits, however, on what your council can do to tackle the problem.  Councils normally try to contact property owners to see if there ware ways of bringing their property back into use. If property-owners are reluctant, councils have some legal powers they can use, including:

Compulsory Purchase Orders - the council needs to show they have taken steps to encourage the owner to bring the property into acceptable use before considering compulsory purchase.  Councils may not have the resources available to do this.

Charges and Enforced Sales- councils can issue and enforce charges against a property.  If the owner fails to meet the terms of a statutory notice or where someone owes Council Tax or other debts to the council, they can enforce the sale of the property to pay for them.

Unsecured properties - councils can issue orders to owners to make their property secure.

Empty dwelling management orders - councils can issue an empty dwelling management order (EDMO) to make sure that an empty property is used for housing. The property must have been empty for two or more years and not be on the market to let or sell.  An EDMO allows the LA to  ‘step into the shoes’ of the owner and make sure that empty properties are occupied and managed properly. The local authority can then bring the property back into use, but ownership does not change hands.

The video above features the work of Empty Homes Doctors - a local social enterprise, in Leeds.

Community action

It is hard to take action on empty homes because, of course, the property in question belongs to an owner with rights over how it is used.  However, community organisations can 'name and shame' social housing and private landlords who leave properties empty for long periods of time without any good reason.

 

Key Facts:

Two hundered thousand homes that could house half a million people are left empty for more than sixth months - and the neighbourhoods in which they stand empty can suffer as a result.  Communities can ask the local council to look into why property has been left empty and to attempt to get the landlord to look at alternative uses.  Communities can also name and shame social and private landlords who leave homes empty without good reason. 

Page Links from here

You can check the number of empty homes by local council area on the DCLG website 

Empty Homes is an independent charity which used to be called the Empty Homes Agency.  It provides advice and runs campaigns including Empty Homes Week.

In this toolkit, see:

HMOs (Houses in Multiple Occupation)

Social Housing


OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.

BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY PLANNING TOOLKIT DEFINITION SHEET This sheet may be reproduced in paper or electromic or any other form but please mention it was made by Chamberlain Forum Limited for Birmingham City Council supported by Department for Communities and Local Government.

created: 2016-05-22 12:23:18 by: admin status: f published

Noise and Nuisance

Noise and neighbourhood nuisance often spur community action to improve the neighbourhood. They may be relevant issues in local planning, but a neighbourhood plan probably isn’t the most direct way of tackling these issues…

Noise and neighbourhood nuisance often spur community action to improve the neighbourhood. They may be relevant issues in local planning, but a neighbourhood plan probably isn't the most direct way of tackling these issues...

In more detail

If noise and nuisance are problems in your neighbourhood, the council may be able to take action on grounds of public health - and there are some actions that can be taken through the local planning system.  In general, however, the first thing to try is to see if issues can be sorted out without resort to regulation or local plans.

Planning concerns

Noise and light pollution are both relevant issues in local planning.  Noise needs to be considered, for example, when new developments might cause nuisance to neighbours; or when the existing levels and profile of noise in an area make it unsuitable for certain new types of development.   Light pollution is considered in planning in similar ways.

Nuisance?

In common law, ‘nuisance’ covers just about anything (apart from the law itself) which stops you enjoying your rights, including those arising from your property, as a tenant or an owner-occupier.   If you suffer some real and substantial loss because, for example, of the way a landowner (which could be the council, or a housing association, or a business as well as a householder) uses, or allows others to use, their property, then you may be able to go to court to sue for damages or to seek an injunction to prevent a recurrence of the nuisance.

Statutory nuisance

Parliament has given particular bodies duties to deal with certain kinds of defined ‘statutory nuisance’.  For example, local councils (acting with their public health hat on rather than as planning authorities) must periodically - inspect their areas for, investigate complaints of, and take action to stop or prevent any of the following which are ‘prejudicial to health’ or a nuisance:

  • smoke, fumes or gases emitted from premises
  • dust, steam, smell or other effluvia arising on industrial, trade or business premises (effluvium means ‘a thing which flows’, but in this context it means liquid or gas waste products or pollution)
  • 'accumulations and deposits' (accumulation means ‘a thing which is built up’, but in this context it means rubbish, rubble, soil or other solid waste products or pollution; and deposits means materials that have been left or dumped)
  • noise or artificial light emitted from premises
  • insects emanating from industrial, trade or business premises (for example, cockroaches, fleas or beetles that damage and destroy crops or attack the fabric of other buildings)

And :

  • an animal kept in such a place or manner so as to be a nuisance or a health hazard
  • any premises which are kept in such as state so as be a nuisance or a health hazard
  • any vehicle, machinery or equipment in a street which emits noise that is a nuisance or health hazard.

Statutory nuisance covers both public and private nuisances.  (That is - when the damage applies to several people at once, or just one person).   If councils are satisfied that there is, or is likely to be, a statutory nuisance, they can serve an abatement notice on the person responsible for the problem.   A notice can give the person a period of time to remedy the situation.  Failure to comply after this term is a criminal offence.

Community dialogue

It is not easy to show that something is 'prejudicial to health' and 'nuisance' is defined in this context as anything (except the law itself) which results in ‘unreasonable’ reduction in amenity or environmental quality.  Neighbours usually have different views of what is reasonable and what is not.  This makes enforcement action difficult.  Although there are some things you can do about noise and nuisance through neighbourhood planning and the council may be able to do more using public health and environmental law, more issues are resolved by talking them through - perhaps as part of a community planning process.  Community dialogue – enabling people to talk about the issues and to agree what is reasonable for your neighbourhood – may often offer the best chance of a long-term resolution and improvement.

Key Facts:

Nuisance is anything which stops people from enjoying the use of their property.  That can include things like noise and light pollution - and these things may be relevant issues in planning new development.  The council can take action on a much wider range of 'statutory nuisances' which can include things like build-ups of waste; dangerous animals; badly maintained properties or vehicles; as well as light, noise and other sorts of pollution. The best way to tackle neighbourhood nuisance, however, is usually throughcommunity dialogue.  That is, creating space for people to talk and agree standards of behaviour for the neighbourhood.  This could be part of a community planning process.
 

Page Links from here

Law and Environment is a website produced by the UK Environmental Law Association.

Noise Nuisance provides advice and support to people affected by noise problems

The government guide to Resolving Neighbour Disputes

In this toolkit, see:

Antisocial Behaviour


OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.

BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY PLANNING TOOLKIT DEFINITION SHEET This sheet may be reproduced in paper or electromic or any other form but please mention it was made by Chamberlain Forum Limited for Birmingham City Council supported by Department for Communities and Local Government.

created: 2016-05-12 12:01:40 by: admin status: f published