The Committee is asked to note any apologies for absence and substitutions received from Members.

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors A Cossens and Davidson (with no substitutes).

To confirm and sign as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting of the Committee, held on Monday, 20 January 2025.

It was moved by Councillor Smith, seconded by Councillor Casey and:-

RESOLVED that the minutes of the previous meeting of the Committee, held on Monday, 20 January 2025 be approved as a correct record and be signed by the Chairman.

Councillors are invited to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests, Other Registerable Interests of Non-Registerable Interests, and the nature of it, in relation to any item on the agenda.

There were no Declarations of Interest made by Members on this occasion.

Subject to providing two working days’ notice, a Member of the Committee may ask the Chairman of the Committee a question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties which affect the Tendring District and which falls within the terms of reference of the Committee.

On this occasion no Councillor had submitted notice of a question pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 38.

This report seeks to provide the Committee with data on the number of licences, certificates and permits authorised by the Council in quarter 2 of 2025/26.  The majority of these have been authorised by Officers in accordance with approved schemes of delegation. Data is provided to Committee on the most recent complete quarters (April to June, July to September, October to December and January to March) together with previous quarters so as to aid comparison between quarters and years.

The Committee considered a report of the Assistant Director (Corporate Policy & Support) that provided the Committee with data on the number of licences, certificates and permits authorised by the Council in quarter 2 of 2025/26. The majority of those had been authorised by Officers in accordance with approved schemes of delegation. Data had been provided to the Committee on the most recent complete quarters (April to June, July to September, October to December and January to March) together with previous quarters to aid comparison between quarters and years.

The data was provided both within the Officer report (A.1) and via a presentation given at the meeting by the Licensing Manager.

It was RESOLVED that the contents of the report (A.1) be noted. 

The report invites the Committee to consider commencing the process for the adoption of a policy concerning Charitable Collections within the District. Through the report, the Committee is invited to approve a public consultation exercise on the draft Charity Collections Policy laid out in the appendix to this report.

The Committee received a report outlining the initiation of the process for adopting a policy on Charitable Collections within the District. Members had been invited to consider the proposed approach and to approve the undertaking of a public consultation exercise on the draft Charity Collections Policy, as detailed in Appendix A to the main report (A.2).

The Licensing Manager reported that Tendring District Council was currently the Licensing Authority for Charitable Street Collections under Section 5 of the Police, Factories etc. (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1916 and the Charitable House to House Collections under the House to House Collections Act 1939.

The report therefore sought approval from the Committee to consult on a possible new Charitable Collections Policy for the District.

It was reported that, following consultation, a further report would be presented to the Committee with the results of the consultation and seeking its approval for a recommendation to the Cabinet for the adoption of such a Policy.

It was moved by Councillor Smith, seconded by Councillor Skeels and RESOLVED that the Committee:

(a)  endorses the intention for the Council to adopt a policy for charitable collections in the District; and

(b)  approves the draft Charitable Collections Policy, as set out in Appendix A to the main report (A.2) for public consultation.

The report invites the Committee to consider commencing the process for the adoption of a policy concerning Scrap Metal Licensing within the District. Through the report, the Committee is invited to approve a public consultation exercise on the draft Scrap Metal Policy laid out in the appendix to this report.

The Licensing Manager presented a report inviting the Committee to consider initiating the process for adopting a Scrap Metal Licensing Policy within the District. The Committee was asked to approve a public consultation exercise on the draft Scrap Metal Policy, as set out in Appendix A to the report (A.3).

It was reported that Tendring District Council acted as the Licensing Authority for scrap metal licences, including site and collector’s licences, under the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013.

The purpose of the report therefore was to seek the Committee’s approval to consult on a proposed new Scrap Metal Policy for the District.

Members were advised that, following the consultation, a further report would be brought to the Committee outlining the consultation outcomes and seeking approval to recommend the Policy’s adoption to Cabinet.

The Licensing Manager further advised Members that the Council did not currently have a codified policy for Scrap Metal collection in the District and that the establishment of such a policy would assist all concerned by providing a policy reference document in respect of scrap metal.

The Committee was reminded that, in accordance with the Constitution, the consultation period must be no less than eight weeks. It was noted that this requirement had also been applied to the consultation period for the Charitable Collections Policy, as referenced in Minute 6.

It was moved by Councillor Amos, seconded by Councillor Casey and RESOLVED that the Committee:

(a)  endorses the intention for the Council to adopt a policy for Scrap Metal in the District; and

(b)  approves the draft Scrap Metal Policy, as set out in Appendix A to the A.3 report for public consultation.