Agenda item

To consider a report by the Head of Elections, Licensing and Registration which sets out details of a deputation to Council on the 14^th September 2016 by students of the Leeds Beckett University, concerning student safety in Leeds, in particular sexual harassment, and calling for the Council to support consent education in the city’s bars and clubs.

(Report attached)

The Head of Elections, Licensing and Registration submitted a report which set out details of a deputation brought before Council on 14^th September 2016 by Students of Leeds Beckett University who were seeking the assistance of the Council in promoting student safety and calling for the Council to support consent education in the City’s Bars and Clubs.

With the agreement of the Chair, supplementary information was circulated at the start of the meeting – The document was entitled “Leeds BID Purple Flag Award – Leeds University Union Zero Tolerance”

Appended to the report was a copy of the following document:

·  Community Safety Partnership – Structure (Appendix A referred)

The Principal Liaison & Enforcement Officer, Citizens & Communities together with the Area Community Safety Co-ordinator, Environment & Housing presented the report and responded to Members questions and queries

Detailed discussion ensued on the contents of the report which included:

·  A previous campaign “We’ve got your back” was a pledge to make Leeds a city with zero tolerance stance on all incidents of sexual harassment and sexual assault

·  The campaign was supported by the Community Safety Partnership and promoted in the City’s Bars and Clubs

·  Leeds University Union (LUU) delivered external training to licensed venues within the city centre with input from Pubwatch and BACIL (Businesses Against Crime in Leeds)

·  Funding for the campaign was supplied by Police and the Crime Commissioner for West Yorkshire’s Safer Communities Fund and the University of Leeds Footstep Fund

·  The Campaign ceased due to absence of funding

·  Leeds University Union now intend to restart the campaign, LUU have pledged funding, Leeds BID had also expressed an interest in the project

·  The project would complement the mandatory training that door security  staff must complete in order to achieve their Security Industry Authority registration

·  Taking the project forward would be done via Leeds University Colleges and Crime Reduction Partnership and the City Centre Community Safety Partnership

·  Entertainment Licensing would support the marketing of the campaign through Pubwatch

·  Mechanisms for the delivery of the project together with outputs and proposed expenditure were highlighted within the supplementary information

In general Members were supportive of the initiative and welcomed the expression of interest from Leeds BID

Members were of the view that the City Council together with the Community Safety Partnership had an obligation to support student safety in Leeds, but it was for the Leeds University Colleges to take the project forward.

Responding to a question as to how the initiative could be monitored, Officers reported that monitoring could be difficult because instances of sexual harassment required reporting, if problem premises were to be identified.

It was suggested that delivering the message to students about awareness of sexual harassment and abuse should be done prior to the start of “fresher’s week”

It was noted that staff turnover in bars and clubs may be high, so training should be delivered periodically or through induction training. 

The Chair thanked officers for their attendance and presentation and asked that an update report be brought back to this Committee in six months’ time.            

RESOLVED –

(i)  That the Chair of the Licensing Committee, and /or the Executive Member responsible, writes to the originators of the deputation in acknowledgement of their submission with a recommendation that Leeds Beckett University and Leeds University Union co-ordinate a partnership approach to this project

(ii)  That an update report, on Student Safety in Leeds, be brought back to the Licensing Committee in six months’ time