Council                                                             Agenda Item 59

Subject:                    Review of Statement of Licensing Policy 2026

Date of meeting:     18 December 2025

Report of:                 Director of Governance and Law

Contact Officer:      Name: Anthony Soyinka

Email:                       anthony.soyinka@brighton-hove.gov.uk

Ward(s) affected:   All

For general release

1. Action Required of Council:

1.1      That the report and recommendations of the Licensing Committee be approved, and that the extract of the Draft Minutes from the Licensing Committee meeting held on 6 November 2025 be noted.

2. Recommendations:

2.1      That the revised Statement of Licensing Policy as detailed in appendix A and revised by the Licensing Committee be adopted and that officers be granted delegated authority to make any minor, formatting and numbering corrections that may be required.

Brighton & Hove City Council

Licensing Committee (Licensing Act 2003 Functions)

3.00pm 6 November 2025

Council Chamber, Hove Town Hall

MINUTES

Present: Councillors McGregor (Chair), Cattell (Deputy Chair), Davis, Hewitt, Lyons, Nann, Parrott, Sheard, Sykes, Asaduzzaman, Goddard and Shanks

7 Review of Statement of Licensing Policy 2026

7.1 Licensing Manager introduced the report for this item.

7.2 Cllr Parrott questioned why 27% of respondents opposed the good operator policy.

7.3 The Chair stated that there were concerns regarding the relaxing of licensing laws, but that results had shown that operators were largely in favour of the proposed policy.

7.4 Cllr Sykes questioned what changes had been made to the draft statement of licensing policy since it was seen by the committee in July 2025.

7.5 The Chair stated that no changes to the licensing objectives were made at a local level.

7.6 Cllr Goddard praised the draft policy and commended its safety-first approach. Cllr Goddard questioned what was next for the licensing team.

7.7 The Chair stated that involving the culture team to make nightlife safer was a potential next objective for the wider licensing team.

7.8 Cllr Shanks questioned whether the licensing and planning teams could be bought closer together, and questioned whether public health was in the remit of the licensing team.

7.9 The Chair stated that there was already an overlap in the work conducted by the licensing and planning teams but iterated that they are strictly separate regimes.

7.10 Licensing Manager provided a brief overview of the relationship between planning and licensing, stating that the licensing team liaise with the planning team when necessary.

7.11 Cllr Sheard commended the report and questioned how homosexual sexual crimes could be further prevented in single gender spaces.

7.12 The Chair shared their experience with beach patrols and night marshals, citing both as examples of how sexual crimes can be reduced and prevented in the city.

7.13 Cllr Nann expressed support for the draft policy.

7.14 Cllr Davis questioned how the responses to consultation processes could be improved.

RESOLVED:

1) That Committee agreed the revisions to the Statement of Licensing Policy (appendix A) incorporating the main revisions as follows:

1.1) Replace the current Cumulative Impact Zone (CIZ) with a City Safety Area (CSA). Detailed in 3.1 of the revised Statement of Licensing Policy (SoLP).

1.2) Retain the current Special Stress Area (SSA) and other areas. (detailed at 3.3 of the draft SoLP).

1.3) A focus on safety as the central priority and introduction of a new set of best practice measures for the CSA and SSA which can be found in the revised Statement of Licensing Policy (SoLP) Appendix A.

1.4) Update the current Matrix approach and table to include new categories of premises including Grassroots Music Venues and changes to the hours for some types of premises which can be found at 3.4 in the revised Statement of Licensing Policy (SoLP).

1.5) Introduce a ‘Good Operator Policy’ which can be found at 3.5 in the revised Statement of Licensing Policy.

1.6) Update nighttime economy safeguarding initiatives see section 4 of the policy. Add to the policy sections on LGBTQ+ venues and inclusivity at 1.9 Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), at 4.1 Modern Slavery at 1.12 and Martyn’s Law at 7.1.5.

2) That the revised Statement of Licensing Policy was referred to Full Council for adoption. See Appendix A for a copy of the revised statement of licensing    policy.