Eastbourne Borough Council is the licensing authority for Eastbourne under the Licensing Act 2003. In accordance with this act, this is the procedure followed by the Licensing Act 2003 Sub Committee.
- The Chairman will open the meeting. The Chairman will identify those parties wishing to address the meeting and will consider any request made for permission for another person to appear at the hearing in accordance with the Regulations. The Chairman will introduce the procedure to be followed and will then consider any representations to vary this procedure in the interests of fairness to the parties. The Chairman will normally then determine a reasonable maximum amount of time for each party to address the meeting.
- The Licensing Officer will introduce and present their report. They will then introduce any responsible authorities who have attended in order to deliver their representations in person.
- The Chairman will invite those other parties who seek to address the meeting to do so in turn.
- The Chairman will normally begin with the statutory consultees, thereafter moving on to the Applicant and from there to the interested parties. This order may however be varied at the Chairman’s discretion in the interests of fairness to the parties and/or to ensure the proper running of proceedings.
- The parties who have/will be addressing the Committee will be given the opportunity to ask questions in turn, as will the Committee members, this normally to take place immediately after each speaker has addressed the Committee. Cross-examination will not however be permitted, unless the Committee consider that it is required.
- Once all of the parties have both addressed the Committee and answered any questions then the Chairman will invite closing remarks from each party in turn, normally starting with the Licensing Officer.
- The other parties will then be invited by the Chairman to make their closing remarks in turn. While this will normally happen in the same order as they addressed the Committee, the order may be varied at the Chairman’s discretion.
- The Committee will then retire to deliberate in private. While the Committee may request the assistance of the Legal Advisor at its discretion, the Legal Advisor will not retire with the Committee as a matter of course. Further, while the Legal Advisor will assist with queries of a legal nature, any query concerning clarification or interpretation of factual matters will be addressed by reconvening the Committee meeting so that all parties may be present.
- Ultimately the meeting will be reconvened, with the Chairman normally announcing both the Committee's decision - this to include any conditions – and its reasons for reaching its decision at that time. The fact that the parties have a right to appeal the decision will be stated orally. In any event, a written notification of the decision will be despatched to the Applicant subsequent to the hearing that will include reference to his/her right of appeal.
