CABINET CALL: Written by South Holland district councillor Anthony Casson
In order to learn more about the work of the council’s licensing team I will shortly be joining them on some routine inspections.
The team regularly inspects businesses to ensure that they are complying with licence conditions.
They share intelligence with Lincolnshire Police and trading standards and take a very proactive approach to making sure that businesses in the district are operating within the law.
As a licensing authority, South Holland District Council has the power to revoke premises licences for shops operating illegally and nine such revocations have been made since January 2015 where businesses have been found to be trading illegally.
It’s worth pointing out that losing a premises licence will often hit a business hard in the pocket, because alcohol sales represent a significant chunk of revenue.
The team’s utmost priority is of course the safety of the general public and you don’t need me to tell you that illegal alcohol and cigarettes can have associated health and safety risks.
I’m looking forward to the visits and am sure I’ll learn a great deal about how the team operates.
It goes without saying that the team can’t be everywhere at once, so we would ask that if you suspect a shop is selling illegal alcohol or cigarettes to report this to us.
• On a separate note, you may have seen that the council has recently launched the ‘Bag it Bin’ campaign aimed at encouraging dog owners to clean up and properly dispose of their pets’ mess.
Our dog warden Rachel Thompson has been provided with stencil signs and spray cans and will be spraying temporary brightly-coloured ‘Bag it Bin it’ logos on paths in areas across the district that have received high reports of dog fouling.
The initial focus will be on paths and passageways near schools and other community areas.
So far we’ve had a lot of positive feedback and several people have said to me what a great idea it is.
I’m confident that the campaign will have a positive effect and if we can reduce dog fouling in the district then that will be a great achievement.