The purpose of the council's Licensing Enforcement Policy is to set out what businesses and any other parties subject to regulation can expect from both proactive and reactive enforcement action.

The council's Licensing Team is part of the Environmental Health service.

Policy Aims

The Policy aims to ensure that all such action is conducted with openness, helpfulness, with a balanced and consistent approach.

Included in the term enforcement is advisory and includes education based visits and those visits aimed at assisting with compliance, in addition to the targeted enforcement licensing visits, coupled with formal enforcement action.

The effectiveness of legislation and licence conditions in protecting consumers or sectors in the society depends crucially on persons complying with the plethora of legislation falling under the jurisdiction of Eastbourne Borough Council.

Good Practice

The council has signed up to and adopted the Enforcement Concordat, is mindful of the recommendations of the Hampton Review and this policy reflects the principles of that agreement.

This policy has also been prepared to operate in conjunction with the Community Safety Strategy and is designed to work in conjunction with enforcement partners, including Sussex Police, East Sussex Trading Standards and East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service.

The Licensing Enforcement Policy came into effect on 3 December 2007 following a consultation - see Related Pages for more information. You can download the policy in PDF format below.